Healing wounds
by Kodabear18
Summary: When Clary and her brother are relocated for a mission, they meet Jace Herondale; the cocky, attractive, secret agent. when memories from the past come back to haunt Clary, will she let Jace heal her wounds, or create more scars that she can't handle.
1. beginnings

_ClaryPOV_

I sit in my chair wondering what it would be like to run my fingers through his hair. _It's probably as soft as it looks,_ I think. Then I remember who I'm thinking about and have to pinch myself to focus on Director Herondale once again. _You are here for a mission. Not for your own little petty feelings, _I remind myself again.

Let me catch you up on my 'latest dramatic encounter'. I woke up at 4:30 this morning; don't ask me why, for I shall not explain my abnormal sleeping pattern, and went for my normal jog, because to get an ass as fine as mine you have to _exercise._ When I got back from running it was about 5:30 so I took a shower to make me smell good for the first day at my new school. When I'm done showering, I put on a black shirt, black skinnies, combat boots, and you can't forget the necessary leather jacket. Then I put on very little makeup, since I don't like putting things on display that aren't for sale, and put my hair into a pony tail. After that excruciatingly, long process I head downstairs to get food and tell my brother to hurry his ass up so that we won't be late. I start eating when all of a sudden I am being squeezed to death by my big bro, Jonathan.

"Jon get off!" I practically whine.

"Can't I just give my sister a hug to make her day shine that much brighter? Tell me, aren't I the highlight of the morn my dear sister? ," he squeezes me even tighter with each word.

"More like 'brings more darkness to the pit of despair'", I said while prying him off of me.

"You're no fun," he grabs a granola bar and his bag and sits down at the counter while I finish my food. "Are you ready to willingly go to hell or we could just stay home?" he asks hopefully.

"Sorry, not gonna happen. We promised mom that we would finish high school and that is exactly what we are gonna be doing." I gather my bag and my helmet off of the table and then we start walking outside towards our bikes.

"Since when do you stay at school?" my brother asks in a mocking tone.

"Since never." He gives me a puzzled look. I sigh, "I never said anything about staying at school. Just until me meet the warden, maybe go to the first class, then BAM. We're free birds for the rest of the day."

He devilishly smiles at me and I mimic him. "I knew my little badass was still there. For a second there you had me scared you were gonna start helping old people cross streets and do your homework." He wipes his forehead like he'd been sweeting. "Now, let's go show New York what the Morgensterns are all about!" he woops and then swings himself onto the bike and drives off. I smirk at his wild antics and drive off after him.

**Time jump**

When we arrive at the school, people stare and point at us. I mean, I would too if two people dressed in all black, on Ducati's, came to my school at 8:00 in the morning. We park in the very front and jump off our bikes. I take my helmet off and take my hair out of its pony tail and give my vibrant red lock a shake before getting my bag and walking with Jon into the school. When we enter Jon puts a protective arm around my shoulders and guides us to the front office, oblivious of the stares.

We enter the office just as I see the most beautiful girl walk through the door. She has long, silky black hair that reaches her waste and is in a very expensive outfit that practically screams 'I'm rich'. She stops for a moment to stare at Jon and I, then holds out a perfectly manicured hand towards us.

"Hi, I'm Izzy. You must be the newbies. I'm on the welcoming committee, so I'll show you guys around and stuff." We both shake her hand and then her dark brown eyes flicker over to the left where a boy with equally as black hair and blue eyes stands next to the sparkliest man I have ever seen. She says, "I'll go get my brother to help you guys while you get your schedules." Then she flounces of to the duet, and Jon and I enter the office.

After we collect our schedules, we meet up with Izzy who then introduces us to Alec and Magnus. Then she shows us our lockers and leads us to our first class. We requested the same schedules because we are in the same grade although I skipped a grade since I'm a year younger that Jon. As we enter the classroom Izzy tells us to wait at the front until the teacher comes. When the bell rings a man that has white hair streaked with grey comes through the door. He eyes us suspiciously, as though we were going to set him on fire, and then tells us to introduce ourselves.

"Hi. I'm Jon and this is Clary." Jon says then death glares the old man, who informs us that his name is Mr. Starkweather, as if to dare him to make him talk any further. We then take our seats in the back of the room. We pick a table by the window so that I can draw and Jon can use his phone. Jon searches Mr. Starkweather and tells me that his name is 'Hodge' because he knows that I will use it to my advantage. I pull out my sketch book and start drawing a portrait of Jon until said Jon pokes me under the desk with his pencil. I look up and everyone is staring at me and Hodge is practically murdering me with his glare. He clears his throat and walks back to my desk and picks up my drawing.

"Well what do we have here?" he asks in a mocking tone.

Me being me couldn't hold in the comeback, "It is obviously a giraffe!" I say with a completely straight face. Out of the corner of my eye I see Jon snicker to himself because he has probably been waiting until I would show up the old man all morning.

Hodge goes red with anger and says, "Miss Clarissa," I narrow my eyes at him, "I will not tolerate drawing pictures of your boyfriend in my history classroom. You-," I cut him off, trying not to laugh. Jon looks about ready to piss himself trying to hold in his laughter.

"First of all Hodge," I sneer his name, "it's Clary. Second of all, my man, Jon, over here is my brother. You would know that if you actually read our file like you are required to. Third of all, everyone here is aware that this is a history classroom. I mean, you made sure to write it in big boy words on the board." I say, my tone implying that he is a five year old. Jon can't hold it any longer and burst into laughter with the rest of the class while Hodge slams my sketchbook down on the desk and goes back up to the front of the room. He looks like he is about to start lecturing us, when the door opens and the hottest guy I have ever seen struts through the door.

He has golden hair, golden eyes, and golden skin. He is practically the epitome of an angel. Unlike Jon with his fair hair and dark eyes, he is warm looking, almost enchanting with his peculiar gold eyes. I don't realize I'm staring until he smirks, an arrogant smirk, at me and winks. _Winks! Damn, and he was hot too._ Arrogance is a huge turn off for me. I don't know how many times I have had to beat the shit out of someone for thinking that they are god's gift to the world and can get any girl they want. I remind them that they aren't. It will be a pity to do that to this one because he would be wonderful to draw. Hodge looks over at him and seems to get even angrier than I got him. _You got mad skills bro._

"And just _what_ do you think you're doing interrupting my class Mr. Herondale?"Hodge looks like he is gonna have an aneurism. _This'll be fun to watch,_ thinks my morbid inner self.

"Well you see Hodge," _that bastard! He stole my nickname! "_thier were some very fine specimen down in the ol' janitors closet that needed their mouths inspected. I was just helping the majority of society by making sure they weren't sick, y'know in case it could be contagious. I was just giving them their daily dose of amazing." He says with a perverted smirk that says 'I think you know what I mean _wink wink'_, then goes to finish it with a wink; just to get his point across._ Like I said, bastard!_

"Just go sit down Mr. Herondale." Hodge snaps.

He walks to the back of the class and sits down _right in front of me. Kill me now,_ I think. I look over at Jon to see that he was thoroughly amused by the last two conversations. He high fives me under the table, then turns back to the front of the class. Blondie looks at me over his shoulder and sends a sly wink my way. I raise an eyebrow and smirk at him. He returns the gesture before turning around too.

**Time Jump**

Finally class was over so I grab my stuff and head to my locker with Jon. When we get to our lockers, Blondie is standing right next to my locker surrounded by a small crowd of people. I recognize Izzy, Alec, and Magnus there along with the crowd. Jon and I put our stuff in our lockers and try to escape the social gathering we know awaits if Izzy sees us, so we walk all the way on the other side of the hallway. When we are almost to the door we hear,

"Clary! Jon!" I turn around and see the group move down the hallway led by none other than Izzy.

"Where are you guys going? Class starts in like ten minutes!" she asks. Jon and I look at each other before holding up our fingers over our mouths. We twist our middle and pointer fingers together and press it horizontally against our mouths as a sign to 'keep quiet'. I look over at Izzy and pull out my pack of cigarettes. Her eyes widen so much that I have to pinch my wrist to keep from laughing. Jon and i don't actually smoke. We just do when we are stressed or to make people more scared of us.

"We were just gonna go get a quick smoke before next period." I say hoping that she'll buy it. I feel Jon's silent laughter from beside me and I elbow him slightly telling him not to blow my cover. She recovers quickly and says,

"Cool…Um…Well…s-see you guys later then?" she sputters out in a question.

"Probably not." I wink at her, then grab Jon's arm and drag him through the front door. We run towards our bikes, then head out to Taki's. When we enter, the aroma of all day breakfast foods just about make me drool. Jon and I find a booth and order two huge stacks of pancakes and chocolate milkshakes. Even though I just ate about an hour and a half ago, I'm _starving._

"So… I guess you just couldn't resist, could you?" Jon asks me after we get our food.

"Nope. Did you see his face though, he looked like a tomato!" I say.

"I just can't believe he let himself walk right into that one."

"Yeah. So, what do you think of Izzy?" I change the subject.

"She's… very… outgoing." He hesitantly answers.

"Or she just had too much caffeine." I snort. Jon chuckles.

"Are we due in for assignment yet, or are the new agents still not ready for relocation?" Jon asks completely serious again.

"Well, Director Lightwood said that they already live in the area. Apparently after him and his wife split, he got max, but she got the older two. This happened years ago, so he said that he probably wouldn't recognize them if he saw them on the street. We are to report to the New York headquarters as soon as 'school gets out', so probably around 3 or 4:00. He wants us to meet our new director, and our new partners. I already called Simon, so he'll just meet us there. Apparently, Director Lightwood's kids are new to the agency, but their third partner has been doing this for as long as we have. Oh! And he said to gear up before going to headquarters. We are going out for a trial assignment to see 'if we are compatible to fulfil the mission'." I finish with a deep, mocking voice. Jon chuckles before regaining his serious composure.

"Cool. We should probably finish up then, 'cause I was thinking that we could use some practice time before we meet the newbies and the other not-so-newbie." Jon exclaims, grabbing his wallet and laying out a twenty on our table. I nod in agreement. We walk back to our bikes and head home.

When we get home we go up to our rooms to change. I put on a black t-shirt, black sweatpants, and tie my hair up. When I'm done changing, I head down to the basement and meet Jon in the training room. We start off by throwing knives into targets, then, we spar for about two hours. At around 1:00 we decide to get ready so I head upstairs again. I walk into my in-suite, and take off my sweaty work-out clothes. I jump in the shower just as the water starts to steam up the bathroom. When I'm in the shower, I notice the scar on my ribcage, and the images start coming back.

_Flashback_

_The tears are hot on my cold skin. I scream for _him_ to let her go. Jon is still holding me back, trying to keep me out of _his_ line of fire. He slams her to the ground one last time, and I see her go limp. I see the blood pooling around her vibrant red hair. I see her look to me and Jon, she mouths three words. Three words that I will never get to hear her say again. 'I love you'. Then I see the life drain out of her once emerald green eyes, turning them to a dull color that whispers of sorrow. I go numb. I can't do anything but scream. Jon is still holding me back, the chains around his wrists preventing him from going to our mother. He is screaming too. I see _him_ smile maliciously and then he starts to walk towards me and Jon. I struggle against the chains on my wrists, needing to make him suffer. I _need _to make him pay for what he has just done to our mother. All of a sudden, I see Jon curl up into a ball, trying to make himself tinier than his ten-year-old self already is. I hear him cry out in pain as _he_ brings his foot back to kick him again. I hear him laugh psychotically as he's hurting the only person left that I care about in the world. After one more kick to Jon's abdomen, I've had enough._

"_STOP!" I scream .I see him stop, then turn to me with a murderous smirk plastered on his face._

"_What. Did. You. Say." He barks at me. I see Jon whimper in his fetal position. I'll do anything to keep this maniac's attention off of Jon. _

"_I said stop." I say in a firm voice, and though I want to cower under the glare he sends my way, I sit tall. He walks up to me and reaches his hand back to pull out the knife in his pocket. I cower away as he brings it towards my chest._

_End of flashback_

I'm startled out of my thoughts by the water turning cold. I get out of the shower and get dressed in my black vinal gear. It is made out of a black t-shirt; that has nero-magnetic strips on it, to help keep me warm, and has in a built in tracker because if you are taken hostage, they will probably take you jacket, black skinny jeans; that have pockets all over the place on them to hold my weapons, a leather jacket; that also has hidden compartments for weapons in it, and combat boots; that have hidden knives in the heel and toe of the boots. Once I'm done dressing, I head to the weapons room in the basement to get geared up. I walk down the stairs to the basement and head down the right hallway towards the training room, but turn left right before and head in the weapons room. Jon and I are kind of obsessed with knives. We have a full wall of knives from Russian throwing knives, to Japanese uji swords. On the right wall there are loads of guns from the basic pistol to snipers. I grab my sharp-shooter, two pistols with extra clips, about 20 or so throwing knives, and my Iphone. Our iphones are specially designed to have trackers and communication systems in them, so we don't have to be wired in order for headquarters to see where we are at on our missions. Jon looks over at me and silently asks if I'm ready. I nod, so we leave.

**Time Jump**

When we arrive at headquarters, I note that it looks like an abandoned church. It has a huge sign above it that says 'The Institute'. Jon and I walk up to the front and show the camera our badges. The massive doors open silently and we walk in to witness a knife flying straight at us. My hand flies out to catch it before it can do Jon any harm, and then I turn to see Izzy gaping at us with Alec running from behind her, who slams into said Izzy while looking at Jon and I with wide eyes. Jon's eyes go wide for a second before regaining his cool composure. I on the other hand, am fuming with the knife in my hand, while glaring daggers at the two gaping teenagers in front of us. My look says '_explain why my brother could have gotten hurt and why you are here or you will die a painful death_'. Alec seems to recover first.

"w-what are you two doing here?" he demands.

"I think that the better question is why was this knife hurtling towards the door." I retort. Jon places a hand on my arm.

"I think what clary means to say is that we are most likely here for the same reason as you two." Jon says. _Ever the charmer, _I mentally roll my eyes.

"You guys are the 'experienced agents' that are going to be working on the new mission with us?" Izzy asks incredulously.

"It appears so." I respond lightly, the knife incident forgotten. Jon and I make our way further into the building. It appears to be themed like a castle, from the elegant chandeliers, to the huge man made rugs. Just as Alec appears to be saying something, a voice over the intercom picks up.

"Agents assigned to the 3:00 appointment, please report to Director Herondale's office. Immediately." With a sigh, we follow Izzy and Alec, who are talking animatedly in hushed whispers, to 'Director Herondale's' office. When we get there, I am even more surprised to see a woman and a man talking at a large oak desk. The man has blonde hair, a strong jawline, and brown eyes. The woman on the other hand looks all too familiar. I can't believe I didn't see it earlier. The kind blue eyes, straight black hair, it's like a female version of max. Him and Alec could practically be twins if max wasn't 9. The woman looks up first, and greets us with a kind smile. She sticks out her hand toward me and Jon.

"Hello, I'm Maryse. You must be the Morgensterns." She says in a kind motherly voice that warms my heart just a tad. "This is Director Herondale." She points to the blonde man.

"Hi. I'm Clary and this is Jon." I say with a polite smile on my face. Then the door opens again, and Simon comes through the door with _Blondie_ of all people. I guess I should've known. _Maybe I'll finally get to know his name, _my inner teenage girl thinks.

"Sorry I'm late." Simon apologizes.

"That's alright dear." Maryse says with another kind smile, before scowling at Blondie who, I just now noticed, is on his phone. "Jace! Turn that off right now. Your new partners are here." She chastises. He immediately shuts it off and turns to face us all, surprise evident on his face when his eyes meet mine. He quickly recovers though and says with a smirk,

"Hi, I'm Jace." He finishes with a wink that makes me melt on the inside, but on the outside, I'm just giving him an amused smirk. Jon snickers quietly when Izzy slaps him upside the head.

"You're an asshole. I can't believe you ditched all day after lunch. We had to call our mom, and it was _so_ embarrassing." Noticing Maryse's cold stare, she just gives her an apologetic look before continuing her rant. "I mean, you have got to be the only person who ditches that school, especially after what happened _last time_." She finishes. Jace just smirks at her.

"I'm not the only one who ditched today. Two other culprits are in this very room. And besides, at least I stayed until lunch," he points a thumb in our direction. "I could've left after 1st period like these two juveniles." He ends with an impish grin in our direction, while we just grin back. Izzy looks over to me and Jon like we have personally offended her grandmother or something. Maryse, noticing the start of a verbal war, says,

"Why don't you all take a seat so that we can get started." We comply. Director Herodale, who had stayed silent throughout this whole conversation, sits behind the large desk, sending a proud smirk in Jace's direction. Now that I have time to think about it, they look almost exactly alike. _Of course, _I think._ He's the directors' son._

"Well. Shall we begin?" Director Herondale asks.


	2. crystals

_Clary POV_

"As you know," Director Herondale starts, "the Starkweather case is your new assignment." He passes forward a file that has a picture of Hodge on it. _Now that I think of it, he was really creepy._ "He has been the suspect of many murders but has never been caught. He is known for the murders of Jocelyn Fairchild, Luke Garroway, and Valentine Morgenstern." Jon and I both tense at the names that have been giving us nightmares for the past seven years. "We had concrete evidence on the double murder case of agents Jocelyn and Valentine, but our spy got caught with the proof and was terminated. Starkweather has most likely gained forces with some of New York's most powerful gangs over the past seven years, but we recently came upon new evidence that he was the one to commit these crimes. He is also wanted for distributing illegal substances to said gangs, and by our most recent intelligence, he is going to do something astronomical if we don't lock him up quickly. Now, back to the evidence. It appears that we have overlooked some very minor details in his profile." He turned his laptop around so that we can see the screen. On the screen is the man who murdered my mom and dad. My breath catches in my throat, and I struggle to remain stoic. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Jon swallow thickly, hate burning in his eyes as he stares at the image. "This is Hodge Starkweather, seven years ago. He apparently had on a very clever disguise when he committed those horrid crimes. It was why it was so hard to find any of his dna at the crime scene. He is truly, disturbingly, brilliant. He is very clever and is very wealthy, so he can pretty much buy his way out of jail for petty crimes, like drug-bust. That is the reason that no government officials have ever been able to pin him to the crime. He is really too clever for his own good and one day, soon might I add, it is going to get him put away; or worse, killed." We all take a moment to take in the information.

"Wait, you said Morgenstern. As in Clary and Jon here, Morgenstern?" asks Isabelle curiously.

"Yes, indeed. They are the children of Jocelyn and Valentine." Says Maryse. She turns her gaze to me and Jon, looking thoughtful. "I still remember going to the academy with them. They were two of my best friends. Along with you Stephen, am I correct?" she questions Director Herondale.

"Yes. I miss having them around. They were always the fun ones. Valentine always got us to do the craziest things when we were your age. They actually introduced me to your mother Jace." Director Herondale turns towards Jace, who has a look of surprise on his face. I glance over at Jon, noticing his discomfort of the subject, and decide to help him out.

"You were saying about the mission." I say somewhat sternly, warning to change the topic. Luckily they get the point.

"Ah, yes. He changed his appearance in order to hide his identity, but he was recently caught on some video footage, and is under investigation currently. The old idiot still does the deed the same way; right through the ribcage." I wince, bringing my hand up to my scar. Jon notices and squeezes my hand reassuringly. "His newest victim is very young though." He grabs another folder out of his desk and places it on the table. Opening it up I recognize the girl immediately. "Maureen Brown, age 14, orphaned after parents were claimed unsuitable to care for a child, got into drugs, association with Hodge Starkweather for after-school tutoring, thought to be missing for approximately three months." Director Herondale reads off. Simon looks in my direction and has panic-filled eyes. Maureen used to live back up in Maine, before she was put into an orphanage. She was so sweet and cute, and now they are saying that she was into drugs and associated with a psychopath. _What has the world come to?_ I silently tell Simon that we will make him pay for his crimes. _We already have a list, why not add a couple more,_ thinks my mini inner sociopath.

"Director if I may add," Isabelle speaks up first. "if we already have proof, why not arrest him on the spot. Why keep dragging this whole case out?"

"That is our problem, Agent Lightwood. The judge found him innocent when we tried to take the case to court. He basically paid off the entire state of New York, but if we are successful in this mission, he and all of his money aren't going to cover this. This will get the National Peace Court out of its shell, and he will be paying for what he's done." Right then, I silently make a vow, _I will make sure you lose this time asswhipe, you will pay for the trauma you have caused me and Jon, and I will personally kill you if we fail; even if I have to die trying._ I don't even notice that I am squeezing my fists, until blood starts pooling in my hands. Jon looks at me with a worried glance, but I slightly nod my head saying 'I'm okay'. He rolls his eyes and faces the Director again, clearly not believing me.

"Now, your mission is quite simple really. For right now. All that you have to do is install security equipment into the school, then, with the help of Agent Bane, you will monitor his routine. Basically shadow him. The reason that we called in the Morgensterns, is to make sure that you do not mess up on that part. It is extremely dangerous, and can cost you not only your life, but also the secrecy of the agency. You will stay under cover at school too. Start eating lunch together, act as if you are all friends. I promise that it won't be that hard, and if it is really that difficult, just sit next to each other, eat lunch, then go onto your next class. Just a warning though; as you are all growing, hormonal teenagers, please refrain from jumping each other's bones. This is strictly professional." He stops to clear his throat, oblivious of the red-faced, murderous looks being shot by none other than said '_hormonal teenagers'. "_Well, now that that's settled, do you accept your mission?"

"Yes sir." We all acknowledge him. The Director nods.

"Good. You are dismissed. I believe that Maryse has an exercise for the six of you to undergo." We then leave his office.

Once we are outside in the hallway, Maryse tells us, "The exercise is to determine your compatibility with each other. You are no longer in your own little groups anymore. You will have a full team on this mission, which means that you will put your partners' life before your own. Split up into these teams: Agent Herondale, Agent Morgenstern?" she looks at me.

"Call me Agent Fray." I say. She nods.

"Agents Herondale and Fray. Agents lightwood 2 and Morgenstern. Agents Lightwood 1 and Lewis. Just to be clear, Alec, you are 1, and Izzy, you are 2. Okay so in the practice room, you will have 20 minutes to get your 5 crystals. After you gather your crystals, you will have to go through lots of obstacles, then return the crystals to the correct pedestals. Failure to return the crystals to the pedestal, means that you have failed the mission. Are you ready?" she finishes. We all nod. "Good. Now follow me and we will begin."

We follow her down a narrow hallway that ends at a vault-like door. She enters a code, then ushers us inside. We all line up at our colored gates: mine and Jace's, obsidian. Jon and Izzy's, ruby. Simon and Alec's, quartz. We watch the light turn from red to green, then we sprint out in opposite directions. Jace and I keep up a good pace with each other, so this should be fairly easy. We find the first crystal at the beginning of the first obstacle. There are targets on each side of a large hallway, each equally distanced. We pocket the crystal, then pick up 10 knives each from the provided buckets. We smirk at each other briefly, then set to work on hitting the targets. After we finish off the targets, we grab the second crystal and pocket that one too, then we run to our next obstacle. It is a huge pit that has a rope in the middle. Jace grabs the rope, winks at me, then is on the other side before I can say anything. He swings the rope towards me, and I catch it and swing across too. After that we pocket the third crystal, we notice little pinpoints in the floor. We avoid stepping on all but one, and then we see an arrow shooting out, so we duck, luckily before it can cause either one of us injury. We gather the fourth crystal, and I notice that only 9 minutes has passed so we jog to the next obstacle. This one is lazers. I know that this seems really cliché, but _come on. LAZERS._ Lazers are like one of the coolest things in spy movies. Jace and I look at each other and grin childishly.

"Okay, I have seen way too many spy movies for me to go through that. I'll admit that I got skill, but I am not risking my good looks for a couple of lazers." Jace says teasingly. I look up and notice a small cliff thing hanging off of the tall ceiling. I point at it and smirk.

"It seems to be your lucky day, because the builders of this fine obstacle course have graciously given us a way out."

He looks up too, then smirks my way and starts climbing. I follow, and when I'm almost up, he reaches a hand down and helps me up. I try to ignore the sappy feelings that are trying to resurface, and focus on the mission at hand. We creep by above the lazers, then climb back down the wall. We gather the final crystal, then run in the direction of the pedestals. We arrive to the final obstacle course and find two 9mms sitting there. We pick up our guns and put in the magazines. We share a look that basically says 'awesome'. We shoot at all the targets while running at full speed, trying to get this over with. When we are at the end, we run up to the obsidian pedestal, and place all five of the stones there. I look around and notice that nobody else is here yet. Jace looks over to me with an exited grin that says 'we won'. I return his grin fully, and we high-five. I'm glad that he didn't try to hug me, because I guess that what the Director said was right. We are hormonal teenagers, and I have _got to get a grip. I mean, sure. He's hot. Really hot. That's alright. I could use a change of scenery ,_I think to myself. I'm startled out of my thoughts by a throat clearing. I look over at jace to find that he's having an equally as hard time with the awkward stand-still we are at.

"So... this isn't awkward at all." I say, making sure to lay on the sarcasm. He chuckles, grateful for the ice-breaker.

"yup." He says, popping the 'p'. We stare at each other for a while before both bursting into laughter for no reason at all. After we have subsided to giggles and chuckles, Izzy and Jon run into the room; Izzy on Jon's shoulders. I look at them like they were streaking in a nursing home, while Jace copies my look. Jon puts Izzy down and they both laugh while putting the stones into their pedestal. Then they look over at me and Jace and they sober up immediately. I smirk at Jon, knowing that I'll talk to him about that radiant smile that he gives Izzy later. Jon opens his mouth to speak, when Alec and Simon run through the door, both glaring at the floor. They put their stones away, then go to opposite sides of the room. I walk over to Simon to see what's wrong.

"Sad day, brown clown?" I say in hopes of cheering him up. I see his lip twitch on the side, so it must have worked.

"I sincerely hope that, that Magnus guy shows up next time, cause I'm not meant for field work." He grumbles, showing me the already forming bruises on his arm. I can't help but laugh and pat his head like a dog.

"That's perfectly fine with me. I like having my own personal nerd at my every beck and call." Then I realize something. "Did you say Magnus? Like Magnus Bane by any chance?" He thinks for a minute, then it's like a light-bulb went off.

"Yeah. He's the other field agent. I'm just doing the geeky stuff." He says with a wink. The doors open, and Maryse walks in with two small black boxes. She walks up to me and Jace and hands each of us one.

"These are to remind you two of your impeccable teamwork. Wear them proudly." She then dismisses us and waltzes out of the room.

I open the box and find an obsidian necklace. It has a simple silver chain around it and the stone itself is oval shaped and is about the size of a silver dollar. I carefully close it and put it into my pocket. I look up to Jace to see that he has done the same thing. I walk over to Jon, who wraps an arm around my shoulders, then we head out. We call good-bye to everyone, and head towards our bikes.

**Time Jump**

When we arrive home, I yell good-night to Jon and run upstairs. I change into some soft pajama pants and a tank-top, and fling myself into bed. I briefly remember Jon coming in to kiss me on the forehead, before falling into bliss. Surprisingly I don't have nightmares tonight. All I dream about are golden angels and obsidian necklaces.

**Hi. So this is my first fanfiction, it just sounded fun so I tried it out.**

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	3. remembering

_Clary POV_

I remember when I was about five years-old, my father took me and Jon out to an old lighthouse. Apparently it belonged to my grandfather, but I never knew him. He died when I was still a baby, so I don't remember him all that much. I remember it having a home-y feel to it from the pale blue outside, to the old huge burnt out light. The house is on an old cove where no ships sailed anymore unless you know how to get there. It is literally in the middle of nowhere, and Maine is a smallish state, so it's very remote. Jon and I would stay up in the loft for hours on end just talking about anything and everything. I remember Jon making me an oath after our parents died, that he would take me back to that lighthouse, and we would live in peace; just the two of us. Of course that sounded great to a 9 year-old, grief stricken child, but it was the thought that counts. If I had to choose, I would leave New York in a heartbeat and become a recluse up in the antique lighthouse. _And then I can get 40 cats and name them all after pokemon characters._ My point is, sometimes in life, we want to leave. Sometimes we _really_ want to become a recluse, up in an abandoned lighthouse, with 40 cats all named Pikachu; but we have to stay and face the music. I considered leaving New York for about an hour before school this morning. _'Wouldn't it be easier to leave than to face my parents' murderer? _Probably. _Would I be able to live in peace if he got to live free without paying for their deaths?_ No. _Would I ever forgive myself if another child, like Maureen, got killed because I spared my feelings? _Hell to the no.

So, after a much needed priority straightener, I am determined to wipe the face of the earth clean of that psychotic piece of shit. He will either die a slow death in jail, or it will be by my hand.

Now, I am currently watching said piece of shit, lecture none other than Blondie. He sits in his chair with an air of ease surrounding him, but I know that he could strike out at any minute. I am snapped back to reality by Hodge lifting his hand as to strike Jace, but he must rethink it because he runs it through his hair instead. I notice the slight darkening of Jace's eyes as he catches onto what happened. He clenches his fist under the table while Hodge continues to lecture him for not doing homework. I decide to change Hodge's attention to somewhere else, so I stand up; rather forcefully might I add, making the chair scrape against the ground as I go. Everyone looks at me and I glare at my brother. I guess he must have caught on by now, because he glares right back, but his eyes are full of amusement and curiosity, wondering where this will go. I take my hand and flip him off before stalking out of the room, yelling profanities as I go. I faintly hear laughter, and stomping while I find myself a nice bench to wait for my distraction to work. Sure enough, about 1 minute later Hodge runs out of the classroom, and drags me to the principal's office. We arrive to the office and it has a big sign above it that says 'Michael Wayland'. The office is huge. There's a flat-screen on the left wall, an X-box hooked up to it, and 2 giant bean-bags underneath of it. _If this is detention, I'm gonna have to start working on my badassery. _There is a door at the back of the room that has 'Office' in big, black letters scrawled on the window. We enter, and Hodge starts explaining my 'totally irrational behavior' to Mr. Wayland.

"-and then she just interrupts my lesson by screaming out profanities and stalking out of my classroom! Her behavior is unacceptable, and I demand that she be punished!" Hodge screeches. One look on the principal's face tells me that he isn't going to get what he 'demands'. Mr. Wayland is lounging carelessly in a large spinny-chair, and looks like he is fighting the urge to laugh. Hodge doesn't seem to notice though, because he just continues to rant away at life. When his insistent babbling has ceased to a halt, Mr. Wayland speaks for the first time since we have entered the office.

"May I ask you, Clarissa, what the reason was for this 'unnecessary outburst'?" he asks with a spark of amusement lighting up his pale green eyes.

"Call me Clary, and the reason for my 'outburst', was that I forgot to feed my clown-fish; Nemo, and now he is probably on his way to Sidney in the sewer. I tried to tell Dori that he needed feeding, but his dad, Marlin, was _so over-protective,_ that he wouldn't allow me to touch the butt; I mean boat." I say, naming the most random thing that I can come up with to bring me further amusement. The movie still fresh in my brain from last night's Disney marathon with Jon. I see Hodge's flustered face look at me with concern for my mental state, while Mr. Wayland looks at me with a knowing smirk. I fight to keep my face straight, but I'm saved because Hodge interrupts my ongoing emotional war.

"That is not a legitimate excuse for disrupting my class." Hodge booms. Mr. Wayland gives him a stern look, and he shuts up immediately. _Yeah. Suck on that bitch!_

"Clary," Mr. Wayland starts, careful to remain stoic for Hodge's benefit. "Why did you feel the need to yell profanities inside a class that was in session?" he arches an eyebrow at me.

"Well actually, the class was just listening to Hodge lecture Mr. Herondale for not bringing his homework. And although it was quite amusing to watch, he should use class time to _teach_; not to show his dislike for Mr. Herondale publicly." I say with an innocent smile plastered on my face. Hodge makes a sound of protest, but Mr. Wayland cuts him off.

"Mr. Starkweather, please go back to you classroom. I will handle Clary."

"But-!" Hodge starts.

"_Now_, Mr. Starkweather." Mr. Wayland commands.

Hodge 'hmph's, and leaves the room dramatically. _I should build him a bridge so he can get over it, _I think. Mr. Wayland turns towards me and then bursts out laughing, and I join in.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Agent Fray." He says while shaking my hand. "I cannot wait until we lock him up for good. Sometimes I just want to tie him to a chair and beat the shit out of him, but then I remember the mission." Noticing my odd look, he says, "Agent Wayland, at your service. I help keep the mission on track." He pushes a button on the under-side of the desk and screens appear out of thin air. I see Hodge stomping off to his classroom, entering, and then he starts teaching again. "I'm basically the over-seer of the mission. Agents happen to get into trouble, they come to 'Detention'; or basically you guys get to sit in that lovely room with the big tv in it, and try to beat me at Halo." He finishes with a smirk.

"So, I can just go play Halo if I'm done with his shit for an hour?" I ask. "That's awesome Mr. Wayland." I say after he nods.

"I know. Oh btw, call me Mike. It sounds weird considering I'm only 28." Now that I look closer, I realize that he is particularly young to be a principal, but _whatever._

We go play Halo for about 3 hours until Jon comes into the office to tell me that it is lunchtime. I say goodbye to Mike, then we head towards the cafeteria. When we arrive, we notice Izzy waving us over towards a crowded area in the courtyard, so we head over there. Jon and I sit down on the grass by Izzy, and silently ask who all of the people are.

"Hi guys. These are some of our friends. Clary, Jon, meet Aline Penhallow," she points to an Asian looking girl with short black hair. "Sebastian Verlac," she points to a tall boy with green eyes and black hair. "Helen Blackthorn," she points to a blonde girl that reminds me of a pixie. "and you guys already met Magnus. Everybody, this is Jon and Clary." Everyone mumbled their hello's and what-not, so I take out an apple while they start talking about random things.

Jon and I start to have our own conversation in Italian, because we don't like people eaves-dropping on us.

"Cosa ne pensi dei tre moschettieri laggui?" (What do you think about the three musketeers over there?) Jon asked me in a hushed tone, nodding slightly in the direction of Aline, Helen, and Sebastian. I shrugged

"Non credo che essi sono agenti. Sono troppo spenierata." (I don't think that they are agents. They are too carefree.) I said nonchalantly.

"Perche pensi che Hodge era tutto moody questa mattina?" (Why do you think that Hodge was all moody this morning?) Jon inquired, looking thoughtful. I snickered quietly to myself.

"Non lo so. Forse e il suo tempo del mese." (I don't know. Maybe it was his time of the month.) I answered amusedly. Jon chuckled quietly.

"Si, probabilmente." (Yeah, probably.) He answered still chuckling to himself.

We are brought out of our own little world by a throat clearing. We look up to find everybody's eyes on us. Jace and Magnus look amused, while the rest are shooting curious glares our way. When you are an agent, you have to learn, and be fluent in, at least 10 languages, so I'm not surprised that they understand. Izzy and Alec on the other hand, look annoyed while Alec slightly nudges Magnus to stop him from snickering.

"What?" I ask innocently. Izzy rolls her eyes.

"What were you saying?" she asks accusingly. I narrow my eyes at her.

"You-." I start to say something on the lines of, _none of your business, _but Jon cuts me off.

"We were discussing Mr. Starkweather's time of the month." He says with a straight face. The five naïve faces stare at us incredulously, causing Jon, Jace, Magnus, and I all burst into laughter until tears streak our faces.

"Y-you," gasp. "should've," gasp. "seen," gasp. "your _faces_!" I manage to gasp out after we are done laughing at the unamused teenagers glaring at us.

"But the funny part is that, that is exactly what you guys were talking about." Magnus exclaims. We continue to laugh until the bell rings, and then we go to our classes. Jon and I ditched yesterday, so we have to find the gym.

**Time Jump**

_Ugh, P.E. kill me now,_ I think to myself as I walk out of the locker rooms. I had to borrow P.E. clothes from Izzy, so I probably looked like a slut. She gave me a black sports bra, short-shorts and a loose t-back. I literally have been getting stared at like the last piece of pizza, for the past hour, so when the bells went off, I high-tailed it to the locker rooms to change back into my skinny jeans and t-shirt.

As I make my way to my last class, Art, I see a skinny blonde haired girl run up to me and she loops her arm through mine.

"So, I heard that you fucked my Jacey." She states while digging her nails into my arm. My first thought is,_ Jacey?_ My second thought is, _who the hell does this bitch think she is, accusing me of _'_fucking her Jacey'._ My third thought is to grab her hand and crush every bone in her arm for laying a hand on me, but I dismiss that thought. _Can't get expelled for violence while on a mission. Damn._ Instead, I grab her arm and twist it behind her back, pushing her up against a locker. She screeches and whimpers for me to let her go.

"Okay, listen up Bitch; number one: who the _fuck_ is Jacey? Number two: who said that I fucked Jacey? Number three: if you ever lay a hand on me again, I will kick your ass to the pits of hell and laugh as you burn." I whisper menacingly. I feel a wave of satisfaction course through me when she flinches,_ that's right bitch; be afraid, be very afraid,_ thinks my inner evil mastermind._ Insert evil laugh and hand rubbing here._ I shove her away from me and make my way to Art.

When I enter the classroom, Jon waves me over to an empty desk. He must have seen my pissed off expression, because he grabs my hand, causing my expression to soften a little bit.

"What's wrong?" he asks worriedly. I smile a little at his over-protectiveness. He has always been over-protective of me, especially after our parents died.

"This bitch just randomly comes up to me and accuses me of 'fucking her Jacey'. Like who the hell is Jacey? Anyway, I just about made her shit herself by threatening her, so I'm all better now. But she tried to dig her fucking claws into my arm, so I may have shoved her into a locker." I say quickly. Jon sputters out a laugh.

"So, did you actually shove her into a locker or…?" he trails off curiously. I shrug.

"I don't actually know. I didn't wait to find out." I say nonchalantly, causing Jon to burst out laughing, and my smile to grow bigger. He hugs me quickly before the teacher comes in and starts passing out sketchbooks. I am very good at art, but I usually don't show anyone. Drawing is basically my escape. I can just draw whatever I am feeling, and then I also have a pretty picture to look at afterwards.

Our teacher's name is Madame Dorthea. She dresses like a psychic and smells like she poured an entire bottle of jasmine scented perfume on her hair. She tells us to 'listen to our hearts and draw our emotions onto the paper'. She says it in a mysterious voice too so that helps.

I draw a young girl sitting in a corner, alone. I add charcoal to the corners so that it looks like the darkness is trying to swallow her hole. I look at my drawing and think,_ it's missing something._ I look around the room and see some chalk pastels, so I grab a red one and a gold one, and make a swirling effect at the top so that it looks like gold and red clouds. I add a little white here and there, and then it's complete. _Perfect._

**Time Jump**

After school gets out, we all go home in agreement to meet back at the school at midnight. The first thing I do when I get to my room, is go to take a nap. I woke up at my usual time, 4:30, but I'm exhausted, so if I want to be on my game tonight, then I need to be rested up.

_Flashback_

_The knife comes towards my body. I try to get away, but it is no use, the chains are too tight. He grabs me by the back of my head, and then brings the knife towards my again, this time with force, when the basement door bangs open. Bright light is all I see, but when my vision clears, I see my father running down the stairs with a gun._

"_Drop the knife. You don't have to do this." My father tries to reason, slowly walking towards me and Jon. He then catches sight of my mother's body, mangled and still, and his eyes widen in disbelief, before looking back over to me and Jon. I'm in tears by now and Jon is still on the ground writhing in pain from where _he_ most likely broke one of Jon's ribs from the violent assault that happened not even 10 minutes ago. The man smirks at my father maliciously._

"_I know that I don't, but that's not the point. You and your wife thought that I didn't know, but betrayal is worse that lying. Did you really think that I wouldn't find out about the two of you spying on me for the Clave? Loyalty means everything to me, and those who are not fit for the role, get terminated." By now the man is close enough to my father that his breath blows through my father's white blond locks. "It really is a pity that you never had a chance though. You would've made a great second in command." And with that he lunges, aiming the knife for my father's heart. Luckily he moves out of the way just in time, but not quick enough to see the second knife that the man holds. The knife imbeds itself into my father back, causing me to scream. The man kneels down by my father, and yanks the knife out of his back. He yells out profanities, and then the man takes my father's gun. "How ironic do you think it would be to be killed by your own gun?" without waiting for an answer, the man aims and shoots my father in the head. Jon and I are hysterical now, screaming and sobbing, pleading with god to help us somehow. The man smiles triumphantly, when his cell-phone rings._

"_Hello…no…..yes they are dead….I told you that I took care of it Pangborn…well what am I supposed to do with the children…no…. well since I am in charge, I guess that I get to decide don't I…..yes.. yes, don't worry. I have been doing this for years. If I'm going to get caught, it will not be because of a couple of brats…yes, goodbye." He hangs up and then turns towards us with a dangerous smile that reminds me of a demon. He kneels down in front of us, and then he brings out another knife. "Well at least you will get to join your mommy and daddy. Be grateful." Then he plunges the knife towards me and I scream. Jon yells for his to stop but he has already got his target set on me. I try to jurk away from the knife, but it still lands in my lower left ribcage. He yanks the knife out to try and stab me again, when the door bursts open again, only this time it was one of_ his_ minions. He stands up and yells,_

"_What?"_

"_Sir, the police have been called. They are at the door presently."_

"_Shit!" the man swears. He looks back at us and then heads upstairs with the minion. Jon crawls over to me and tries to hug me._

"_P-please don't leave m-me too." He pleads. "Please stay awake. C-clare-bear, please open your eyes." I obey to see that he is sobbing while hugging me gently to his vision fades in and out, and I faintly see the door open again, before everything goes black._

_End of Flashback_

I wake up gasping for air. I turn and see Jon sitting on the side of my bed, concern etched into all of his features. I raise my hand up to my face to discover that my cheeks are wet. I hug my knees to my chest and burry my face into my arms. I all of a sudden start crying again, and Jon wraps his arms around my fragile frame.

After I finally calm down, he gives me an understanding look, and tells me to get ready because we are leaving in an hour. I nod and go to my closet. I hear the faint click of my door that is the tell-tale sign that Jon has left me to get dressed.

I put on my gear, and head down to the weapons room to stock up. When we are all ready to go, we jump on our bikes, and head towards the school. We meet up with Alec, Izzy, Magnus, and Jace in the parking lot before heading in. _This'll be interesting,_ I think before entering the building.

**OMG! This chapter is really long and it took me a while so enjoy!**

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	4. the Dumort

_Clary POV_

Being in a high-school at night is one of the creepiest experiences one will probably ever encounter. The hallways are dark, the classrooms are locked, and you get extra paranoid because you expect a murderer to jump at you around every corner. The six of us make our way towards Hodge's classroom to set up the security cameras. When we get there, Magnus takes out a pick, and unlocks the door. We enter and start looking for areas to locate the cameras. The cameras are about the size of a dime, and are black so they have to be hidden very well.

I wonder over to the back of the classroom, and find a bookcase. _Classic, _I think. I find a book on the top shelf to give the entire view of the classroom to the camera, and then I stick the camera on the spine of the book. When I'm done with my camera, I look around at everybody else, to find that they are done as well. I take out my phone and text Simon.

(_Clary/__**Simon**__)_

_Hey, are we online yet?_

_**Yeah. Good angles by the way. I can see everything.**_

_Great. Should we install cameras on the doorway too just in case?_

_**Yup. Just so that we can monitor who comes and goes. **_

_Ok. _

I look over to Magnus.

"Simon says to put cameras on the doorway too." I say in a hushed tone. He nods and gets to work. Everyone else is already packing away their stuff, so I decide to look around the classroom. There are maps lining all of the walls, bookshelves in every corner, and I notice that there are some papers on Hodge's desk. Me being me, couldn't help but look.

The pages are blank, but have little indentations on the back. I flip it over, and immediately recognize it as Morse Code.

'.-. …..-…-. ..-.-..-.-.. -….. -….-..-.. ….. .-.-…. .- -…..-. …-…-..- ….-.-…-.- .-.-… -.- -…-.. …- .-. .-..-…- .-.- -….. -….-..-.. ..-….-..-.. -.-.-…. -..-..- -..-. ….. .-…-…-.. -.-.-…-.-.- -.- -.-.-..-.-. .-..-.-.-.- .'

I study the dots and the dashes for about a minute until it comes to me.

'_We have found the girl. She was at their hideout. Santiago was not there, so we took the girl instead. Maybe next time he will rethink not making payment.'_

I run my hand over the black letters, then I search through the rest of the papers on the desk. Most are just graded papers, but on the back of a sticky note at the bottom of the stack is written;

'….-..-.. -….-.- .'

I read it over and over again, and then it clicks.

'_The Hotel Dumont'_

I frantically look over to where Jon is, and give him a look that says, '_I found something'._ He comes over, and reads the paper. I watch as his eyes widen fractionally, and then he calls the rest over. He reads the note aloud to everyone and then they stare at us.

"What?" I ask, slightly annoyed.

"The Hotel Dumont is haunted." Magnus says after a while. Izzy rolls her eyes.

"No, it's one of the hang-outs for the biggest gang in New York though. Do you think that whoever that was, was talking about Maureen?" she asks. Jon looks thoughtfully down at the paper.

"Maybe. I guess that we'll just have to find out." He says with a wicked grin.

**Time Jump**

"Jon, are you sure that this is a good idea?" I ask timidly, as we walk down the alley. He looks down at me with a soft smile.

"I'm sure that whoever this 'Santiago' is, will most likely be here. Who knows, maybe he'll have some dirt on our old buddy Hodge." He says confidently.

I eye the building in front of us warily. It actually looks like it could be haunted; with its boarded up doors, the windows with bars across them, and 'The Hotel Dumont' sign that has been changed into 'The Hotel Dumort' by red spray-paint. The six of us climb up the steps to the front door. The door is boarded up and says, 'Caution: Stay Out, unstable structure,' in big, bold lettering. Jon tries the door but it doesn't budge, so we walk around to the back alley again. I notice that there is trash all over the place, except for one of the dumpsters is completely clean. I nod in the direction of it, and Jon and Jace go to push it forward. They almost have it moved over completely when he hear a shout. We all pull out our guns, and turn around to find a small crowd of people pointing guns at us.

"Bajen sus armas." _(Lower your weapons.)_ I hear a sweet accent demand. I look over the group, and notice that it is a boy; about Jon's age, maybe older, with honey colored skin and dark brown hair. Jon raises his hand, the hand that is not holding his gun, up in the air as to say, 'we surrender'.

"Nosotros no queremos problemos." _(We don't want any trouble.)_ Jon says with an edge to his voice. _How cliché,_ I think with an eye-roll. The dark-haired boy rolls his eyes too, and says to his group,

"Put the guns down, they're agents." His people do as told and we put ours away too. He returns his attention to us. "Why are you on our turf?" _What did you do, pee on it, _I think sarcastically.

"We found evidence that the wanted suspect, Hodge Starkweather, has been associating with a Mr. Santiago." Alec says formally. The boy's eyes harden, and his hands bunch up into fists at his sides.

"Well, if by 'associating with', you mean 'being black-mailed into', then yes. We have." He spits out.

"Well, would you happen to know where Mr. Santiago is?" Izzy asks.

"That's me." The boy says. "But I go by Raphael." He finishes with a wink in my direction. I notice not only Jon, but Jace too, glare in his direction. _Huh,_ I wonder.

"Did you happen to know a girl by the name of Maureen Brown by any chance?" Magnus says, noticing the tension. Raphael sobers immediately.

"Yes, I did. She was new to our clan. Sweet little thing really. She didn't even do the drugs, just sold 'em and got paid." He says sadly. _That sounds like the Maureen I knew. Mental note: tell Simon._

"Do you know why Starkweather killed her?" Jon asks.

"No. He wanted me to take out some agents a few months back though. Said that I'd pay the price if I refused. I, of course refused, 'cause I'm on your guys' side. I have some friends in the agency. Maybe that's why?" he says.

"Who do you know?" Jace wonders aloud. Raphael turns to him for the first time. His eyes spark up with recognition.

"Ah, a Herondale. Nice to meet you. Tell the director that we have no more dirt on the north-side clans, but we have turned in the dealers." He says as if we should know what that means. Jace looks baffled by this, and gives Raphael a questioning stare. "How do you think that I keep my dealers out of jail?" he asks us a look of understanding goes through the six of us. "My friends are actually inside. Come." He nods towards the side of the building. He pushes a button on a brick, and enters a password, before ushering us inside.

I look around and the first thing I notice is how modern it is. Computers and TVs are all over the place. He leads us to another room with gaming chairs in it and an X-box. The TV is on, and there are two people lounging in the chairs playing Fifa. Raphael walks over and looks on amusedly to their conversation.

"Jordan, come on. You know that I'll win. Just give up while you still have some dignity." A girl with brown skin, and curly hair says while pushing at the boy's head.

"C'mon Maia, can't you ever let me bathe in the glory?" a familiar voice whines.

"No!" the girl, Maia, exclaims while moving her thumbs inhumanly fast across the controller.

" Yes!" the boy calls. Standing up and spinning around in a victory dance, while the Maia glowers at him from the couch. "Ha!" he points a finger at Maia cockily. Raphael clears his throat, and they both spin around, startled.

"Well if you are done…" he trails off. The boy looks at our group before his eyes land on me. His brown eyes widen, and then he runs a hand through his dark hair, looking to Maia for help. She shrugs looking as lost as he is.

"Real mature Kyle. I thought you were supposed to be the adult around here." Jon says while smirking at his old best friend. Jordan looks at him, then back to me and again. He finally seems to snap out of it, because he rushes over to Jon, giving him a man-hug. _Ah, their never-ending bromance was always amusing, _I think. They sit there for a while, just hugging.

Let me explain. Jordan and Jon have been best friends forever. They became friends when I was 12, Jon was 13, and Jordan was 16. They met at the academy where we are trained to become agents. Apparently, Jordan was helping out with the younger kids, and Jon started acting out; as always, and he ended up challenging Jordan to a fight. Of course my cocky older brother lost, but Jordan took pity on him and they became friends. Their age difference doesn't matter though because they act like 10- year-olds 24/7 anyway.

I am brought out of my thoughts by the two amigos separating. Jon wipes away a fake tear and looks deeply into Jordan's eyes. Jordan copying his actions.

"It's been far too long, my love." Declares Jon dramatically. Jordan nods in agreement, wiping away another fake tear.

"I had to move on though, Jonnie. Even though my new love will never equal to you, I have moved on." Jordan dramatically pushes Jon away from him and runs to an extremely confused Maia. He hides his face in his hands and starts 'sobbing' loudly. Jon looks devastated, and glares at Maia.

"You're breaking up with me for_ her_!" he starts 'crying' too. "What about the love we shared. We are perfect for each other. What does she have that I don't?" Jon cries desperately. "Is it my boobs?" he adds as an after-thought. They stare at each other for a minute, then burst out laughing, patting each other's backs. I just stand off to the side, shaking my head with an amused smirk plastered on my face. I look over to the six confused faces and start laughing. They all look at me and give me questioning looks.

"Guys, meet Jon number two." I say while Jon and Jordan walk off to the side of the room and start catching up. Maia looks to me desperately for help. I walk over to her and stick my hand out.

"Hi, I'm Clary. Those guys over there are Izzy, Alec, and Magnus. And the one who stole your boyfriend is Jon." I explain while guiding her over to our group.

"Maia Roberts." She says in a friendly voice.

"Guys, this is Maia." She shakes their hands and then Izzy starts talking to her about shopping and other boring things. I walk over to Raphael, and lean against the wall by him.

"So, you said that you knew Maureen?" I ask. He nods.

"Yes. We found her on the street, she ran away from her foster home or something like that. She was really helpful and sweet. She would come by every day and help us count money or organize. Once I think that she even made us cookies." He says with a small smile on his face. "She just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time I guess." He sighs deeply. "We reported her missing, because her foster parents didn't even care for her. They probably only found out that she was gone when they announced her death on the news." He shakes his head resentfully. "She was a good kid. She didn't deserve that." He finishes. I nod my head in agreement.

"I used to know her back when she lived up in Maine. She was so sweet to everybody. It's horrible that she got killed, but we are going to put Starkweather behind bars or 6 feet under for his crimes." I turn towards him. "Do you know anything, anything at all, that might be able to help us?" I ask gently. He shakes his head slightly, deep in thought.

"I only know where he told us to meet him. Not where he works out of though, just where he makes deals with other clans and collects his 'payments'. He's got himself a small army of clans all over New York." His eyes connect with mine. "If you guys ever need extra men or weapons, you come to me." He says so sincerely that I can't help but nod. I look over at Jace and notice that he is looking bored to death, so I head over to him. I stand next to him, and he looks over at me; gold connecting to green.

"You look bored." I state. He smirks at me.

"You were looking?" he teases causing me to stick my tongue out at him. He chuckles and nods his head. "Yeah. There's not much to do around here." He says.

"Well, I highly doubt that we can get any more info from here, so let's round up the others and go get some food. I'm starving." With that, we separate to go get the others.

**Time Jump**

When we arrive at Taki's, we go inside and grab a large booth. I end up sitting in between Jace and Jon. I swallow down the part of me that wants to scream '_yay!',_ and look through the menu.

"This has got to be the only restaurant open at 3:00 in the morning." I mumble to myself.

A waitress comes to take our orders, and I notice that it's the blonde bimbo that I scared the shit out of earlier today. I smirk. _This'll be fun. _I notice her trying to flirt with Jace, but he is ignoring her and scowling down at the table. She finally gets to me to get my order, and when she sees my evil smirk, her eyes widen and she gulps. I pretend to not notice.

"I'll have a plate of waffles. Thanks." She nods quickly and moves on to Jon. He notices her odd behavior and lifts an eyebrow my way, as if to say, '_That her?'. _I nod a little and then something clicks. I look over at Jace, remembering the way that she was trying to flirt with him. _Jace. Jacey. Omg! _I look back over to see that she has finished taking all of our orders.

"Anything else?" she asks nervously. I grin.

"Actually yes." She looks at me with a frightened gaze. "Who is Jacey?" I ask innocently. Jace chokes on his drink, and then looks at me with wide eyes. I continue my innocent act as she seems to flush bright red underneath of all the crap on her face. I hear Jon snicker, and I elbow him; warning him to shut up.

"I-I don't know what you're t-talking about." She sputters out quickly. I lift an eyebrow at her.

"Didn't you just say that _'I fucked your Jacey'_ to me at school today?" I ask, still with an innocent facade. She seems to have had enough and looks to Jace desperately for help, but he just glares at her darkly. She 'hmph's and storms off in the direction of the kitchen. I burst out laughing along with everyone except for Jace who is still glaring at her retreating form.

"_Jacey?_ Seriously? Jacey?" chokes out Izzy.

"She has been calling me that for like a year now. She basically follows me everywhere. I bet that she has strands of my hair collected, just to look at." He shudders, causing everyone to laugh harder. We joke around until a different waitress brings us our food and after that we all head home to our different houses.

**So….. yeah. The Morse Code bit took me a while, but I got it done. Enjoy!**

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	5. old friends

_Clary POV_

I met Simon in Kindergarten. We were both loners with no friends, so the teacher told us to play with each other at recess. I guess you could say that I've always been kinda anti-social, but with Simon I have always been the same. We eventually became best friends, and I have had him by my side through everything. When my parents enrolled me in the Academy, I made them get Simon a spot too. That really worked out for everyone though, because he has already graduated high-school due to his overly- smart brain. When my parents were murdered, he was the one to sit with me and Jon at the funeral. When I got relocated for this mission, he followed me all the way to New York from Maine. When we were 14, he confessed his 'undying-love' for me and I didn't return the feelings; he still stayed by my side. Things were really awkward for about a month afterward, but he eventually fixed things between us. Even after his dad died due to cancer, he still never changed towards me, and I'm grateful for that. Simon is, and always will be, my best friend.

Presently, I'm sitting with Simon at a table in a small coffee shop called 'Java Jone's'. Some dude with pink dip-dyed hair is wailing into a microphone on the makeshift stage. Apparently, Simon met him at a comic book store, and was invited to hear his 'poetry'. _Poetry my ass. It sounds like he's slaughtering Chewbaca. _I look over at Simon and silently plead with him to let us leave. He finally gives in, after I continually poke him in his abdomen, and leads us to Central Park. We sit down on the grass underneath of a large tree, and just watch the people walking by.

"I really miss hanging out with you. We never have 'Simon and Clary' days anymore. It's always 'Simon, Clary, and whoever else she meets' days. Or you're always focused on the mission." He blurts out randomly. I look over at him to see that he has a deep frown on his face. "I miss my best friend. You need to become more anti-social again." He teases. I nod with a small smile on my face.

"Maybe I could just take after you. Wake up: check. Don't brush my hair: check." He pats down his hair to make sure that I'm joking. "Wear the same shirt for 4 days: check." I list off while trying not to snicker at his offended facial expression.

"I have not worn this shirt for 4 days. It's been 3 ½." He says, trying, but failing, at defending himself. I chuckle at his attempt, and tug on his 'May The Force Be With You' t-shirt.

"Si, you were wearing this shirt when we met Director Herondale." I point out.

"So, what? It's not like I sweat or anything. You have to work-out to sweat, and I'm perfectly content on having not to change out of my favorite shirt every day." He says stubbornly. "I mean, I don't even know how to shoot a gun. It's clear that physical activity is not for me." He says.

"C'mon Si, you need to put some action into your life. We are going down to the training room." I say while standing up. Simon scrambles up after me. "I will not tolerate you not knowing how to shoot a gun anymore. I mean come on, you're an agent. How did you pass the final exam without having to do the physical training?" I ask as we walk towards my bike.

"They said that I didn't need to know that stuff since I'm a hacker. I don't necessarily need to shoot at anyone inside of a safe-room, so why learn." He says sheepishly.

"Simon, Simon, Simon. You could get mugged, a terrorist could decide that they need your brain skills, or you could _randomly be attacked by your best friend." _I hint at him. His eyes go wide, and then he takes a giant step away from me.

"Whoa, Fray. No need to use your ninja- combat- skills on me. I'll learn how to use a gun if it keeps you from going all 'Hulk Smash' on me." He says, holding up his hands in the 'I surrender' position. I sputter out a laugh.

"Really Lewis? 'Hulk Smash'?" I ask incredulously. I hop on the bike, wait for him to get on, and then I speed off towards my house without letting him speak.

When we get to my house, we head straight for the basement. I grab a 9mm and give it to Simon. He takes it and holds it like it might burn him. I roll my eyes at his theatrics, and grab myself a gun as well. When we have them loaded and ready, I lead him to the shooting- range- part of the training room.

"Okay. Just aim at the middle of the target and fire. Keep your arms steady, close one eye if you have to, breath in, cock the gun, breath out, and fire." I say nonchalantly. I focus on my target. I imagine Hodge smiling wickedly back at me. I take in a deep, calming breath, cock the gun, breath out steadily, and then I fire. I lower the gun to see that I hit the middle of the target. Dead-on. I look over at Simon, who is staring at me like I might actually go all 'Hulk Smash' on him.

"What?" I ask innocently. He shakes his head slightly, as if coming out of a daze.

"You got this really creepy smile on your face before you pulled the trigger. I swear I could see the empty, black abyss that you call your soul. I am literally frightened for my life now." He teases. I elbow him with a smile on my face, and stick my tongue out at him. _Yeah, I swear that I'm 16.I have papers to prove it. _I hand him his gun again, and then I stand back.

"Let's see what you got, Lewis."

**Time Jump**

"See, I told you that you could do it. You're a natural." I say as me and Simon make our way into headquarters to meet Jon, Alec, Magnus, Izzy, and Jace. _Jace. Insert breathy stalker sigh….. I mean, 'Psh, yeah, Jace. So what', _I think. _Snap out of it!_ I'm brought out of my obsessive thinking by Simon poking me in my arm.

"You didn't really say anything encouraging like that though. It was more like," he makes a deep voice that makes him sound like he smokes. " 'Lewis, if you don't shoot the gun into the middle of the target now, I will devour your poor, innocent soul.'" He finishes. I sputter out an incredulous chuckle.

"What am I? Batman?" He just shrugs.

"You do have the whole scare factor, though I highly doubt Batman is a 5ft. 2, red-haired midget with anger issues." He says with a completely serious face. I punch him in the arm while trying to scowl at him. My efforts do no good though, because we both burst into laughter after one look at each other's faces. We finally reach the door and show our badges to the camera, then we walk inside.

The entryway is as elegant as always, except for yelling match going on between Jon and Alec. Alec is trying to throw punches at Jon while Magnus is holding him back. Jon is just standing by Izzy, who is bright red. _From anger?_ Then I look closer, and notice the faint swell of her lips, the smudged lip- gloss that is normally perfect, and the ruffled hair that she is trying to pat down desperately while scooting behind Jon. I analyze Jon's appearance, and his hair is messed up too. There is a faint sign of lip- gloss on his mouth, so I'm guessing that he is the cause of this verbal war. I face-palm myself. _Dammit Jon. Why can't you learn to keep it in your pants for 5 minutes._ I am startled out of my thoughts by a smooth voice, that I know all too well, whispering in my ear.

"What's going on?" I turn around to find an extremely confused Jace. I shrug.

"I'm not actually sure, I just got here. Though it probably has something to do with the fact that Izzy and Jon both have sex- hair, but it could be anything." I say nonchalantly. Jace's eyes widen and then he snickers.

"I already told the poor bastard that it was gonna happen and he didn't believe me." He mumbles to himself, causing me to look at him curiously.

"Told who what?" I ask. He shrugs.

"Alec. I already told Alec that she liked him, but he ignored me and kept on pretending that she is still a baby. He is really over- protective, but it's not like she's never been involved with boys before. He's just oblivious." Jace says while shaking his head at Alec's fuming form.

"I can't believe you. I said _stay the fuck away from her_ and _I meant it._" Alec yells. Jon rolls his eyes.

"Dude, you're acting like I forced her to make- out with me. It's not like we had sex or anything. I really don't see the problem here." Jon exclaims exasperatedly. Alec seems to be getting even more pissed off by the second, so I go ahead and intervene.

"Hey, guys what's going on?" I ask innocently.

"Your ass of a brother was sticking his tongue down Izzy's throat!" Alec exclaims.

"Did she enjoy it?" pipes up Simon. Alec glares at him, but keeps quiet.

"Why are you so mad bro? It was just a little make- outage." Jordan says as he strolls through the front door with Maia glued to his side. I stifle a laugh as he runs over to Jon and crushes him to his chest. "Are you alright darling? Did that mean man harm you? Did he touch you in any places you did not enjoy?" Jordan rambles on, trying to bring down the tension in the room. "Here," Jordan hands Jon an invisible doll. "Show us on the doll where the mean man touched you." Jordan says while petting Jon's hair like a child. Everyone bursts out laughing when Jon curls up in a ball on the floor and rocks back and forth. Even Alec has a small smile on his face against his will. _Leave it up to Jordan to fix all of our problems. _

"I'm still not ok with you 2 kissing." Alec declares, but is no longer yelling. Izzy rolls her eyes.

"Well get used to it." She speaks up for the first time since I arrived. "We're dating now, so ha!" she gloats. I raise an eyebrow at Jon as if to say, 'Really'. He nods in confirmation. I give him a soft smile that says, 'I'm happy for you'. He returns the gesture.

"Well guys, if you're quite done with your little lovers spat, Maryse has an assignment for us. _All _of us." Jace informs us. With a silent agreement to finish this conversation later, we all walk towards Director Herondale's office.

**Time Jump**

When we enter the office, the first thing I notice is that there are six people already there. Director Herondale sits at his desk, talking to a blonde- haired woman who stands next to him. She looks over at us as we walk in, and I notice that she has gold eyes._ Like Jace's. That must be his mom. _Next to her stands an older woman; with white hair pulled back into a bun, icy brown eyes that land on us like a hawk, and she is dressed like a principal. The whole pant-suit get-up and everything. My eyes slide over her to Maryse, who is seated in a chair in the corner of the office with a little boy on her lap. She is holding him like she hasn't seen him in years, and is just now getting reunited with him. When I look closer I see someone who isn't supposed to be here. I would recognize those pale-blue eyes, that are always sparked with intelligence, anywhere. He looks up as we all enter, and his eyes brighten when he catches sight of me. He jumps off of Maryse's lap, and comes barreling towards me. I catch him in a giant bear-hug.

"Max! What are you doing here?" I exclaim with a huge smile plastered on my face. He hugs me tighter and then breaks away with an equally as big smile.

"Dad said that I could come on his next status report with him. We already went to the Maine headquarters, so now we're here. You didn't tell me that you'd be here." He accuses. I laugh lightly and ruffle his hair.

"I couldn't tell you Max. I'm on an assignment here in New York." I explain gently. I look around, and spot Director Lightwood, standing at the back of the room, quietly talking to Maryse. I look back at Max, to find him already looking at me with huge eyes.

"Is that Agent Herondale?" he whispers to me, looking over my shoulder at someone. I crunch my eyebrows together in confusion before he starts to grin evilly. _Oh, no._

"Max what are you on about?" I ask warily. He walks around me quietly, and then goes up behind Jace, where he is speaking with the woman with white hair. I carefully watch Max as he sneaks up behind Jace, before jumping on his back. Jace goes rigid, and seems to think about his next actions. He carelessly swings around as if to look or the culprit, while Max squeals with laughter. Jace tilts his head to the side as if he heard something peculiar, and turns back towards the woman, who is smiling a small grin that lights up her eyes.

"Did you hear that?" he stage whispers to her. She pretends to think for a while, causing Max to stifle his giggles into his arm, then she says,

"Yes. Yes, I do believe that I heard a strange noise. It almost sounded like_ laughter_." She whispers back, playing along.

"Well I wonder where it came from. I mean, _surely_ it didn't come from my back." he says innocently, only to then reach behind him and throw max over his shoulder and start tickling him. Max pleads for him to stop and Jace eventually does. Max, still giggling, sits up while Jace stands up with a chuckle. He offers Max a hand, and they stand up to find 14 pairs of eyes trained on them. I can't stop myself from giggling a little bit when Max bows. He runs back over to me and climbs on my lap.

Me and Max have always been close. From the very day that I started training to be an agent, Max was always around. He used to cheer me on when we would practice around the little kids. He is the little brother that I never had, and it doesn't hurt that he treats me like a god. But if you think that he treats me like a god, he worships 'Agent Herondale'. I guess that I never really thought about it until now, but Jace is the only active 'Agent Herondale' present so I guess that I'll have to share Max's hero-worship with Jace too.

"Now that everyone's here, please take a seat and we will begin." Director Herondale says, bringing me out of my thoughts. Jon sits next to me and Max while Jace sits on the other side. _Yes! _I internally cheer. _Shut-up,_ my rational side hisses. Max leaning against me brings me out of my internal dialog. "We have called you all here today to discuss the possibility of discovering Starkweather's meeting place. We found images of him leaving the school at approximately 3:35 this afternoon. He is scheduled to meet with the north-side clan this evening at an all ages club called Pandemonium. Your mission is to get in and out with as much information possible, without being seen. This is the stage where you rely on Agents Fray and Morgenstern to instruct you on how to shadow properly. His town-house is in the upper village, so you will have to shadow him from the time he leaves, to the time he arrives back home. You will have to bug the room with the help of Agents Lewis, Roberts, and Bane. Agent Kyle will also be assisting you on this assignment." I see Jon and Jordan discretely high-five each other. I roll my eyes. _Idiots. _"Agents, this could help us end the case earlier than we thought. You must treat this particular assignment extremely serious. If not, you could end up getting caught; and let me tell you. These people do not mess around when it comes to money, they will kill you. Come up with a back-up plan, just in case something happens that you did not expect. Be careful and use your training." He finishes and clears his throat. "Now that we have that out of the way, Robert, would you please inform the Agents of what is going on." He says.

"Oh, yes. Of course. The Agency's headquarters up in Maine have come to a conclusion of relocating me. They noticed how close I was to the Morgensterns, and decided that it would be best for me to be around to check up on Clary and Jon here in New York, as I also did when we were up in Maine. We will be moving into the house right next to yours. I also have declined the title of 'Director', for it was taking too much time away from Max." he looks at Max lovingly for a second, while Max smiles hugely up at him. "Now I will be head of the security wing, or the 'hacking' wing, as Max calls it." He winks at Max, who giggles in turn. "I also haven't seen my other two children in almost 8 years, so that will work out great." He looks down at his feet before sitting back down in his chair. I notice that Izzy and Alec have been avoiding eye contact with him throughout the entire conversation.

"Well, only one thing left to do. Agents, do you accept your mission?" Director Herondale says.

"Yes, sir." We all immediately say. The Director nods and dismisses us.

**Time Jump**

After we exit the Director's office, Jace brings over the blonde-haired woman and the white-haired woman.

"Guys, this is my mom, Celine," he points towards the blonde-haired woman. "and my grandmother, Imogen." He points towards the white-haired woman. They both smile warmly at us. "Mom, Grandma, these guys are Clary, Jon, Jordan, Simon, and Maia." He finishes.

"Jocelyn?" the old woman, Imogen whispers. I tense up and Jace sends his mother a warning glance. She slightly nods and grabs Imogen's arm and drags her off, calling a, "Nice to meet you," on her way out. Jace turns back towards us and smiles sheepishly.

"She's really old." He says with a shrug. We all chuckle, glad for the tension to have dissipated. Max tugs on my shirt and I lean down to him.

"Can you introduce me?" he asks, giving me puppy eyes. I stifle a laugh and look over at Jace.

"Hey, Jace." I call. He turns around, raising an eyebrow. "Have you met Max?" I say dramatically, winking at Max. I even add in making a sweeping gesture with my arms in his direction. Max turns bright red, causing me to chuckle. Jace strides over to him and squats down to his level.

"I believe I've seen you before. Were you perhaps, I don't know, the one who jumped on my back, whom I had to tickle in order to capture the culprit?" Jace asks lightly. Max smiles and nods enthusiastically, causing Jace to chuckle. "Well in that case, I'm Jace." He says with a smile and holds out his hand. Max shakes it and then runs off to his mother. I giggle at him babbling to his mom and dad about 'how cool Jace is' and 'how he just is _so_ awesome'. I turn towards Jace.

"You do know that you just made his day right?" I ask and he just shrugs, a small smile still playing on his lips. "He hero-worships you. He probably has action-figures of you fighting 'bad guys', or something like that." I state. He sputters out a laugh.

"I have action-figures?" he asks incredulously. I shrug.

"Maybe. He used to make me give him lessons to draw _myself_. I swear the kid lives through his dad's job; always meeting new agents, getting autographs. You would think that we're celebrities or something, but no, that's just Max for ya." I finish with a shrug. "The worst part of all is that you're his favorite, so he probably has already gone through your file and knows your favorite places to eat and all your hobbies; and he just got to New York yesterday." I say with a smile on my face. Jace just shrugs.

"I'm very interesting, what can I say." He says nonchalantly. I nudge him with my elbow as we walk back towards the group, and he nudges me back.

We all agree to go home and get geared up, and then meet back here at 9:00. Jon and I hop on our bikes and head home. _Tonight will be interesting ,_I think as I pull into our driveway.

**Hi, so I'm sorry that there was not a lot of action in this chapter, but it was necessary for the storyline. **

**To answer your questions:**

**Yes, this is my first Fanfic **_**ever.**_

**Yes. In the last chapter the Morse Code was real. It actually took me a while to decipher and type the words. It was fun writing though.**

**I just wanted to thank you guys for the positive feedback, and I'll gladly read your ideas in the story if you have any.**

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	6. Will?

_Clary POV_

The steam fills up the bathroom, fogging up the mirror. I strip out of my street clothes, and then I hop into the shower. After I'm done washing my hair, I turn the water to a cold temperature. _I need to focus,_ I think to myself. _This mission is too important for you to be distracted, _I try to convince myself, but all that I can think about is how Jace interacted with Max. _I wonder what he isn't perfect at._ I'm brought out of my fantasies by the water eventually turning cold. I quickly rinse off with the cold water, and I jump out of the shower. I walk out of my bathroom and into my closet. I pull out my gear, put on the obsidian necklace that I won with Jace, and get dressed. After I'm dressed, I brush my damp hair out into a side-braid, and head down to the basement. I notice that Jon is already in the weapons room so I decide that I might as well interrogate him about earlier.

"So, what's up with you and Izzy?" I ask casually while stocking up my weapons-belt with knives. Jon shrugs.

"I guess that we're dating." He says nonchalantly, though he has a giant smile on his face.

"You guess, or you know?" I press. He sighs, giving up the act.

"I know." He must see something in my facial expression, because he continues. "We have been 'secretly' going on dates ever since the first day of school. I just asked her to be my girlfriend earlier today, and we were celebrating when Alec walked in." he shrugs again. "She seems like the one. I know that I've only known her for about a week, but I really like her." He confesses. I squeal and drop the knife that I was holding, running up to my brother and hugging him.

"I knew that you guys would end up together! So did Jace, but that's beside the point. You're perfect for each other. Your children are gonna be so cute!" I start rambling. Jon rolls his eyes, and then looks at me with a small smirk.

"What was that about Jace, dear sister?" he leans towards me. "So, what's up with you and Jace?" he mocks me in a very high-pitched voice. I shrug.

"Nothing. He just commented on how he told Alec that you and Izzy would end up together earlier today. There's nothing going on between us." I try to convince him to leave it alone, but he apparently doesn't get the hint.

"I knew you liked him! Your children will be _adorable._" He continues to mock me. I punch him in the arm, roll my eyes, and go back to packing my weapons. "Seriously though, you would let me know if you guys were like, 'a thing', wouldn't you?" he asks, all humor gone. I smile a miniscule smile at his over-protectiveness, and nod.

"Of course I would. There's just nothing going on between us. We're friends. Maybe. I don't even know. I like to think of our relationship as one of 'You're necessary for the mission, and then I can go back to ignoring you for the rest of my life. Good riddance'." I try to play it off as if this doesn't deeply trouble me and keep my features impassive. Jon snickers, but his back is turned to me, so I can't see his facial expression.

"That's got to be the biggest load of bullshit I've heard in a long time. I mean, it's obvious that you two like each other; you flirt literally 24/7. I'm surprised that you haven't noticed yet. You guys are, what did you just say, _'perfect for each other'_?" Jon finishes. I'm blushing madly, so I turn towards our wall of guns. I pick up two 9mms, my sharp-shooter, and lots of extra ammo. _Just in case._ Jon joins me and we finish getting ready in silence, which I'm grateful for.

After we are done grabbing our weapons, we climb up-stairs to the kitchen. I look at the clock and it reads 8:15, so I start making me and Jon Nutella sandwiches. When we are done eating, it is 8:30, so we walk out to our bikes and drive towards Headquarters.

**Time Jump**

When we arrive at headquarters, I see Jace, Alec, Izzy, Magnus, Jordan, Maia, and Simon all talking to each other in the lobby.

"Hey guys." Jon says as we walk towards the group. They all turn around so that they are facing us, and then they bombard us with questions.

"What are we gonna do?"

"How do we shadow?"

"Who's teaming up with whom?"

"Should we all wear matching jewelry?"

We all stare at Magnus for that last one.

"What? I just had to throw that out there. Nobody else was going to." He defends himself. Jon finally snaps out of his shock, and goes into 'mission mode', as I like to call it.

"Okay, everybody listen up. The only way we are going to be able to do this is if we all can agree on the way this assignment has to go. Can we all work together?" he asks. We all nod in agreement. "Good. Now, I know for a fact that Jace, Jordan, Magnus, Clary, and I have all been shadowing for years, but it can still get tricky. We will have to most likely split up into pairs of two. Jace and Clary, you guys seem to work well together." Jace and I glance at each other for affirmative, and then Jon continues. "Alec and Magnus, it's a no-brainer. Maia and Jordan, most likely the only official team here. And finally, Izzy and I. If we ever get separated, you will most likely be with your partner. Do not leave your partners side, unless it is to hook up the bugging software, or to take out the enemy. Think of your partner as your potty-buddy. We will go back to 1st grade if needed be." Jon finishes with a false stern look at the group. We all chuckle. "Maia, Magnus, you will help bug the room where the meeting will take place in. Simon, you are going to drive us all to the club after we get affirmative from Headquarters that Hodge is on the move. Then, you will stay in the safe-room/van, and give us updates through our wires." Jon says to Simon, who nods quickly before grabbing a black case and opening it on the nearby table. While Simon finishes whatever it is that he is doing, Jon continues. "Alec, Izzy, follow your partners' lead. What they say goes. Try to keep up, but this particular mission shouldn't be that strenuous. We are just shadowing Hodge, with-drawling some info out of his meeting, and then coming back to headquarters. I hope that all of you are well-rested, because this's gonna be a long night." He looks over at me and Jace. "You two are already known for shadowing, so I don't need to go over anything with you guys. Just make sure to be completely focused. We don't need any distractions, and if all of this works out as planned, we can all go get ice-cream, or some 'treat'." He finishes with a mischievous smirk. Everyone nods in agreement, and then Simon rejoins the group.

"All of your wires are ready to be put on." He passes out the earpieces and the microphones. The earpieces are literally the exact color of skin, and the microphones are little black dots that attach to the inside of our gears' collars. We all put them on, and then turn back towards Jon.

"Nobody is really going to be 'in charge' of this mission, but the ones that have more experience, like myself and Jordan, should 'spout out the orders'." He says while shrugging, and then goes to stand by Izzy. Just then, Director Herondale comes through the doors that lead to his office.

"Agents, I just wanted to wish you luck on your assignment. This is very important to our case, but please be careful." He says with a sincere smile, then exits the room as quickly as he came.

"Guys," Simon says tersely. "Hodge is on the move." We all nod, and then follow him out to the black van parked outside. _Want some candy,_ I think sarcastically.

**Time Jump**

"The subject has arrived." A voice said over the radio in the van.

We were all crammed into the back of the large monitoring vehicle, though I got to sit next to Jace, so I'm content. The club, Pandemonium, is on the opposite side of town from Headquarters, so we have all been sitting awkwardly while Simon drives.

"Copy that." Simon said back into the small device. "Okay, guys." He calls back to us while parking the van 2 streets behind the club. "This is your stop." He hops out of his seat, and goes around to the side-door, opening it and letting us all get out. "Please be careful." He whispers into my ear before jumping back into the back of the van. I turn towards Maia ad Magnus, who were inspecting the cameras that we have to plant inside of the room.

"Can you guys hook those things up in like, under 10 minutes?" I ask hurriedly, as we make our way to the back entrance of the club. They nod confidently. "Great. Jon, where do you want us positioned?" I ask my brother. He looks over at me seriously.

"You and Jace can take the vents, Jordan and Maia can find the meeting room and plant the bugs, Alec and Magnus can stay out here to make sure that we aren't being followed and activate the cameras so that Simon can see what's going on, and me and Izzy will find Hodge and shadow him throughout the meeting. Just remember guys, use the earpieces and talk to everybody. If you find something that is out of place, whisper '3290' into your microphone. That will alert the Agency, and all of us, so that we can come help you. If you somehow manage to get caught, whisper '9987' into it, and we will use the trackers on your phones to find you and help you escape. Everyone is going back to Headquarters tonight. Do you understand." He says, once again in 'mission mode'. We all nod, then head our separate ways.

Jace and I round the building to an alley, and then start analyzing the club. I find the ladder that leads to the roof, and then start up it. I vaguely hear Jace coming after me, and soon enough, we are on top of the building. We are up about two stories now, so we can see a lot of New York from here. I walk over to the air duct, and start to remove the panel. I motion for Jace to help, and after we get it off, we crawl inside; me in the lead. I take out a flashlight, and pointed it out in front of me.

We eventually come upon the part in the vent that goes straight down, and we have to climb down vertically. When I find the right air-vent, I motion to Jace that we only have a little more crawling to do. As we're crawling I hear static in my earpiece.

"Agents, we have planted the cameras. We are laying low outside of the room." Maia's voice comes into my ear in a hushed tone. One glance back at Jace, and I know that he heard too. He nods slightly down at a vent and we stop. Sure enough, it is directly above the meeting room.

I scoot over so that he can see too, and he lays down on his stomach, peering at the room below. I copy his movements, and soon we are just waiting for the people to arrive. Jace looks up at me suddenly.

"Do you think that we can really end this case earlier based on tonight's info?" he asks curiously.

"I don't know." I state truthfully. "It depends on the actual information. Hopefully we will find something useful, but this meeting could also just be another business associate gainer. However unlikely it is, he could just be collecting payment. He's supposedly meeting with the north-side clan, so this should be interesting. They are apparently the main dealers of the city, so that means that we are dealing with some big shit here tonight." I said reasonably. Jace nods along with my words, looking deep in thought.

"Hopefully we'll get something useful-." He breaks off suddenly, pointing down at the room. I look down and notice the door opening slightly. We quiet down before nodding at each other, a sign as 'be ready'.

"I am so pleased that you have decided to join me this evening. I hope you will find that accepting my offer will benefit you as much as it will me." Hodge says with a flourish, ushering in 5 more figures. There are two tall men that stay by the door with guns (most likely Hodge's guards), two average looking men carrying guns tucked under their shirts, and a brunette woman, who looks to be about 20 or so, in a tight red clubbing dress. Hodge seats himself at the head of the table, and gestures for the guests to have a seat as well.

"Well, were shall we begin…" Hodge trails off while looking through some papers. "Oh, yes. The north-side clan. I am proposing for your group to sell my product, then collect 20% of the profit." He flashes a very fake, very annoying smile, that practically says 'I'm cheap'. One of the men seated at the table snorts. He has blonde hair, so perfectly styled that it must be fake, green eyes, and his facial structure looks familiar, but I can't seem to place it anywhere.

"I thought that we agreed on 45% over the phone?" he questions accusingly. I vaguely see the brunette grab his hand underneath the table, and squeeze hard. He winces slightly, but remains stoic.

"What he means to say, is that this deal is not what we agreed on earlier. If that is the actual offer, then this is a waste of time." The other man states. When I look closer, I notice that he has light-brown hair, also perfectly styled, and has gray eyes. He doesn't look much older than the woman, maybe 2 or 3 years older at most. The other man with blonde hair looks to be about the same age also. Hodge stands up, as they also start to get up, and frantically starts babbling.

"Wait! No, of course we can move it up to 45%. There, is that what you wanted?" he exclaims desperately. The three share a look, and then everything goes into chaos.

The blonde grabs his gun and aims it at Hodge, while the other man takes out the two guards and then moves behind Hodge, also aiming a gun at him. The girl just stands around bored, while the blonde moves closer to Hodge and signals for the other man to put him in handcuffs. I look over at Jace, who is looking at me with alarm clear in his honey-colored eyes. _So dreamy_, I think before snapping myself out of it, and looking back down at the scene below.

"You are under arrest for having association with illegal substances. You will shut-up, or I will knock you out. Do you understand me." The blonde man barks harshly. Hodge nods cautiously. The man seems satisfied with this response, and walks over to the woman, whispering something in her ear. A static-y noise comes into my hearing suddenly.

"Agents, we have found three men from the north-side clan knocked out cold, by the side exit." States Magnus over my earpiece. I look down at the scene thinking, _if the people from the north-side clan are outside, then who the hell are they?_

I look over at Jace to see that he is just as bewildered as I am. I silently ask 'what's going on'. He shrugs his shoulders saying, 'how should I know'. I try to think of some way to decipher the situation, before remembering what Jon had said earlier.

"3290." I whisper into my microphone. Jace nods at me in approval, before glancing back down, only to then widen his eyes in disbelief.

I look down and see the blonde man taking off his _hair._ I look closer and notice that it was a wig. He also takes out his green contact lenses, to reveal the deepest-blue eyes that I have ever seen. He now has black hair, dark-blue eyes, and the same facial structure as, none other than, _Jace. _I glance up to see that he is rigidly watching the scene unfold before his very eyes. I look back down, and see that the light-brown haired man actually has black hair and dark- brown eyes, instead of gray. The girl, I notice, has gray eyes, and is looking directly up at our hiding spot. She crunches her eyebrows together in confusion, before looking back over to the blue-eyed man. They start talking in whispers again while the other boy starts putting a gag on Hodge. _Huh?_

I see Jace shake his head as if to clear his thoughts, and then he looks up at me. He points to his earpiece as if to say, 'did you call for help?'. I nod and he looks almost relieved. He glances down again.

"_Will?"_ He whispers, right before the meeting room is flooded with agents.

**So there you go. Another chapter. **

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	7. paint-ball

_Clary POV_

The waiting room in 'the Institute', is a small room filled with chairs, couches, a small tv, and a large fireplace. It reminds me of those movies where the 'bad-guy' sits in the chair in front of the fireplace with his cat. _Because that's normal, right?_ Jordan, Maia, Magnus, Alec, Izzy, Jon, Simon, Jace, and I, are all waiting for the Director to inform us as to why the famous Will Herondale decided to ruin our mission. I guess that it wasn't completely ruined though, considering that Hodge is being contained presently. We have all been sitting in a semi-circle, silently for the past 30 minutes.

"Okay, let me just throw this out there. Who in the _hell_ are those people?" Maia finally asks, breaking the awkward silence. Jace shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head minutely.

"That was my cousin, Will Herondale. He basically works in the 'D.I.A.' of the Agency. His friends were James Carstairs and Tessa Gray. They are basically a team of sorts. Tessa's his fiancé and James is his best-friend. I was under the impression that they were stationed over in England, but apparently they're back" Jace says solemnly. I arch an eyebrow at him.

"You make that sound like a bad thing." I state curiously. He shrugs uninterestedly.

"He is too full of himself." He says factually. We all look at him incredulously. "I mean, I know that I'm cocky, but he doesn't even have the right. When you're as stunningly attractive as me, you get to be fully entitled to shower the world with your glory, but when you're trying to imitate this," he gestures to himself. "you have to sit back and watch the show. Not pretend to have the viewers." He finishes with his trademark smirk. I shake my head at his little display of self-affection.

"Actually, if I remember correctly, I was born first. Therefore, you are copying me." Says a velvety voice from behind me. We all turn around to find Will, James, and Tessa looking over at our group smugly. Somehow they managed to enter the room, unnoticed by 9 specially trained agents. _Am I going soft? Damn you Herondales._ Will walks over to Jace, _and hugs him_. Jace is scowling fiercely, stubbornly not returning the hug. Will just hugs him tighter, causing him to cry out, startled, and starts rocking back and forth. "Sh, sh. There, there. Don't cry. I know that you've missed me, but really. You could at least control your over-joyed emotions in my presence." Will says while patting his head like a small child. Jace finally manages to push him off, and then looks to the rest of us with an expression that says, '_do you see what I mean'._ He turns back to Will, and glares menacingly.

"What are you doing here? I thought that you were supposed to be in London?" he asks accusingly. Will places a hand over his heart in mock-hurt.

"Are you implying that you didn't miss me?" he asks incredulously. "Oh how you wound me!" he declares dramatically, then runs back over to Tessa, who has been watching their conversation with an amused smirk plastered on her face. "Did you hear what he said to me? He not only wounded my pride, but he also brain-washed these poor, naive souls into believing that he is the more handsome one out of us, when it is clearly me." He finishes, 'crying' into Tessa's shoulder. James rolls his eyes at his best-friend, and then walks over to us, holding out a hand.

"Hi, sorry about him. He was dropped as an infant." He says nonchalantly, causing us to chuckle and Will to glare at his back. "I'm James Carstairs, but you can call me Jem." He says with a warm smile. After we all introduce ourselves, he points at Will and Tessa. "Those love-birds over there are Will Herondale and Miss Tessa Gray." He lowers his voice to a staged-whisper. "Don't ever be in a room alone with them. I swear, they're like rabbits." He finishes with a shudder. We all laugh before the doors to the waiting room open, and Director Herodale and Maryse walk in.

"I see you have found the runaways." States Director Herondale in an amused tone. They must see our confused faces, because Will speaks up.

"We got bored while they were sorting out our case, and we may have snuck out." He says casually. I see Jon and Jordan snicker quietly out of the corner of my eye. Director Herondale shoots a sharp glance at Will, and he has the decency to look sheepish.

"You should have stayed for the rest of the meeting, because now your punishment for disrupting a mission, unauthorized might I add, is that you are to accompany the other agents already assigned to the Starkweather case. He is being interrogated presently, but for now, I would like you all to go home and get some rest." He glances quickly at Jace, who is not even trying to hide his dislike for their punishment. "You all look like you need it." He adds quietly on his way out. Maryse waves over Alec and Izzy, and then they leave. I look over at Jon and see that he's saying goodbye to Jordan, so I walk over to Jace.

"So, I take it that you don't really like Will." I say conversationally. He just spits out a humorous laugh.

"No, actually we get along great. I'm just pissed because he hasn't bothered to call me in the past 2 years. We used to be like brothers before he left, but now he has a fiancé that I didn't even know about until today, and he has Jem as his best friend now. I guess I sound really pathetic right now, but I feel left out." He confesses with a sad expression. I look at him for a moment, and then smirk.

"Well, if all you need is a new friend, I'll gladly help out." I state helpfully. He glances up at me for a while, and then a genuine smile spreads across his face.

"Yeah, I'd like that." He says happily. I smile back at him, and then lean up to whisper in his ear.

"Just so you know, I would pick you over Will any day." I whisper and back away from him with a wink. I discretely hand him a piece of paper with my number on it, and start walking towards the door. I see a small grin playing on his lips as I grab Jon and yell, "Good-bye", to everyone. Jon and I make our way home, and then head up to our rooms.

Just as I'm about to drift off, I hear a beeping noise coming from my nightstand. I grab my phone and see that I have a text from 'unknown'. I furrow my eyebrows together and open it. It's from Jace.

_(Clary/__**Jace**__)_

"_**Hi. I hope that you're not asleep."**_

"_Nope. I'm still awake. What's up?"_

"_**Couldn't sleep, and decided to see if you gave me a fake number."**_

"_Why would I do that?"_

"_**Idk, maybe you wanted me to try to become friends with the mafia or something."**_

"_Well, first of all, I don't even know the mafia's number. Second of all, I do actually want to be your friend. You seem like a cool dude."_

"_**That's gotta be a first. Usually when most girls describe me, they use words such as attractive, hot, even once a girl called me ' the torch', because I, quote on quote: 'am hot enough to set the building on fire'. Some may say that I am scalding."**_

I snort. _Ain't that the truth, _I think, but instead reply with,

"_I know that this sounds extremely cliché, but I'm not most girls."_

"_**That you aren't, Rossa. That you aren't."**_

"_Are we gonna start speaking in Italian, because you should know that I can keep up."_

"_**E si deve sapere che io sono fluente." **_(And you should know that I'm fluent.)

"_Ben, Mr. Hotshot, penso che dovro verificare che la teoria perme." _(Well, Mr. Hotshot, I think that I'll have to test that theory for myself.)

"_**Che si vuole, Rossa, perche io sono nulla se non un vomo di parola." **_(That you will, Red, because I am nothing if not a man of my word.)

"_Ho pensato che tu avessi 'ragazze si descrivono come scottature'?" _(I thought that you had 'girls describing you as scalding'?)

"_**Oh, faccio. Ho appena non avrei I miei costumi incredibili per includere nel pachetto." **_(Oh, I do. I just wouldn't have my amazing morals to include in the package.)

"_Si, continuate a pensare che." _(Yeah, you keep thinking that.)

"_**Lo faro, Rossa." **_(I will, Red.)

I stifle a yawn and glance at the time, 3:30.

"_Bene, io sono a letto, Giallo." _(Well, I'm off to bed, Yellow.)

"_**Mi hai chiamoto 'Giallo', Rossa?"**_ (Did you just call me 'Yellow', Red?)

"_Si. Buonanotte, Giallo." _(Yes. Goodnight, Yellow.)

"_**Buonanotte, Rossa." **_(Goodnight, Red.)

A small smile plays on my lips as I put my phone back on my nightstand, and I finally let the darkness swallow me.

**Time Jump**

I walk downstairs with a spring in my step. I don't know why I'm so happy this morning, but I'm in a good mood. _Yes you do,_ whispers my reasonable side,_ it's because Jace nicknamed you Rossa last night._ I mentally slap it. _Shut-up. _When it stays silent I mentally pat myself on the back. _Go me._

"Why did you just pat yourself on the back?" Jon says, startling me out of my internal dialog. He looks like he is going to either burst out laughing or send me to a mental hospital. _Then maybe I can be with my friends,_ my inner psychopath thinks. I shrug and pass him into the kitchen.

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about." I say innocently. He narrows his eyes at me, but changes the subject.

"Hey, the Director called. He wants us to be down at Headquarters at around 10:00 to discuss about what we are going to do with the case, so if I were you, I'd gear up." He says while walking past me to the basement door. I grab an apple and nod my head in acknowledgement. I quickly finish my apple, and then I head upstairs to put on my gear.

After I have on my gear, weapons, and the obsidian necklace, Jon and I head out to our bikes. We head to 'the Institute', and in no time, we are sitting in a large meeting room with Maia, Jordan, Izzy, Alec, Magnus, Simon, Director Herondale, Maryse, Robert, Jem, Will, Tessa, and _finally _Jace. Director Herondale stands up and proceeds to hand out folders. I open mine up to see pictures of Hodge going to different places. Him going to Taki's, him walking to his car, him handing money to a masked figure, the list goes on and on, and there are about 30 different pictures.

"Starkweather was arrested yesterday as you all know, and he is presently being confined in the New York State Prison." The Director started. "He is in a holding room, and the local authorities are trying to convict him of possession, but 12 people have already tried to bail him out. We are almost certain that we cannot keep him there for much longer, but we did gain some new information about the case. He is most likely going to try to get the north-side clan to join him again, but little does he know that the north-side clan is on our side. Just like your friend Raphael's clan, they are friends with the Agency also. If there had not been any interruptions last night, we could have figured out his next move. As Agent Herondale2 has informed me," he looks at Will. "they did not knock out the 3 north-side clan members who were found by the side entrance. Apparently, one of Starkweathers' men found out about their allegiance with the Agency, and tried to stop the problem before it even started. Luckily, Agents Herondale2, Carstairs, and Gray eliminated him before he could pass the information onto Starkweather. They basically improvised the entire meeting, and still kept our secret safe. We knew that we were riding on thin ice last night, but it had to be done in order to build his trust." He stops to clear his throat, before addressing us again. "We are now to the part of the mission where you will all go under-cover. We are not going to be snitching from his side though this time. This time you will all be pretending to be part of Raphael's clan. We will decide who is to actually go under cover and who will not be later on today, by splitting you up into teams, and whoever gets the highest score gets to go." He finishes. We are all silent for a moment, before Jon speaks up.

"What will we be required to do if we get chosen?" he asks curiously. The Director sighs.

"You will not be selling drugs, if that is what you are asking. No, there will be 6 of you going in. you will just have to hang around with the clan, get some information out of the people there, and report back to Headquarters. It will not be that hard." He says confidently. _Like father, like son, _I think dryly. He dismisses us after that, and we all follow Maryse to the training room. She has us stand against a wall, and the starts calling out names.

"On the Black Team, Agents Morgenstern, Fray, Herondale, Herondale2, Kyle, and Bane." She says. Jon, Jace, Will, Jordan, Magnus, and I all go to one side of the room. _Why am I the only girl,_ I think while rolling my eyes. "On the Red Team, Agents Lightwood1, Lightwood2, Roberts, Carstairs, Gray, and Lewis. Your teams have been picked according to who matches your skill level. This exercise will not be as strenuous as the last, but it will tell us which team will go under-cover." She finishes, and then leads us down a long hallway, to a large metal door. She ushers us inside, and then hands us all vests and guns. When I look closer, I notice that the vests are colored according to our teams, and the guns are electric. I look up at Jace with excitement in my eyes, to see that he has the same expression on his face.

"Paint-ball." We both exclaim at the same time. I giggle while he chuckles, then I look over at Jon to see that he is talking to the rest of our team animatedly. He catches my eye and winks, before going back to his conversation. I look back over at Jace to see that he is smiling hugely.

"We're gonna rock this, Rossa." He whispers to me. _Rossa, I could hear him call me that all day,_ I think. _Focus,_ I chastise myself.

"Abso-fucking-lutely, Giallo." I whisper back. He grins at the nickname, and looks like he's about to say something, when Maryse comes over to our group and hands us each a small bag. I raise an eyebrow at her.

"They're paint-balls." She states with a shrug before moving on. I look inside my bag, and sure enough, paint-balls. Black paint-balls to be precise. _The other team probably has red ones._ I'm brought out of my thoughts by Maryse clapping.

"Alright everyone. You have probably already guessed that we will be playing paint-ball. Now, just a few rules. 1. No head shots. 2. No groin shots." She sends a glare at Will. He smiles innocently back. "3. No 'street paint-ball'. That never ends well. That's all of the rules, but remember that the other team is your enemy at all times. Take this seriously. Once you are hit, come back into the clean-room, and patiently watch your team win or lose. Is that clear?" she finishes. We all nod and the she gives us 5 minutes to come up with a strategy. Jon makes everybody huddle together, and then they all look at me.

"What?" I ask nervously. Magnus shakes his head at me.

"Aren't you supposed to dominate at this game? Your profile says that you always win." He states. I look around at the group before going into 'mission-mode'.

"Alright. We have to split up into teams of 2. The Red Team is most likely going to stick together. We will need to run off right after the buzzer sounds, and form a triangle around them. It will be easy, but we need a signal to tell each other when to fire." I say. Jordan speaks up first.

"How about you whistle." He suggests. I nod.

"Okay, that'll work. Just everyone always keep an eye on the group. If one person strays from them, take them down immediately. Also stay out of sight. Now, all that we need to do is figure out groups." I say, looking to Jon for help.

"Clary and Jace, Me and Jordan, and Will and Magnus?" he asks. We all nod in satisfaction. The buzzer sounds right then, and we all sprint into the relatively large paint-ball arena. There are walls and barriers everywhere, but me and Jace find a support beam and settle ourselves there. We scope out the Red Team, and then try to find our teammates. Jace discretely points them out and accidently brushes his hand with mine. I felt sparks run up my arm and pull my hand back. Jace copied my motions, so he felt the same thing. _How cliché,_ I think. We stare into each other's eyes for a moment, and then both simultaneously turn back to the Red Team. They are in the perfect position for us to take out, so I whistle loudly. They all turn their heads, and then they get shot with paint from all directions.

Once the intercom announces our victory, we all run out of the arena, and give each other high-fives. Maryse finally gets us settled down, and then tells us to come back tomorrow to get briefed on the mission.

As I am making my way to my bike with Jon, I hear my name being called. I turn around to see Jace running towards me. He stops in front of Jon and I, and rocks back on his heels.

"Hey, um, Izzy said that we're all going to the movies later, so do you guys want to come?" he asks hopefully. I glance at Jon, who nods, before looking back at Jace.

"Sure. That sounds fun." I say nonchalantly. I see his eyes light up and then he smiles.

"Cool. Well I guess I'll text you where to meet us later." He says while backing up. "Bye, Jon. Bye, Rossa." With that he turns around and starts back inside.

"Bye, Giallo." I call to his receding figure. I see Jon smirk at me from the corner of my eye, so I give him a '_what_' look. He shrugs his shoulders.

"I just find it amusing watching you two be oblivious of your feelings. I mean, you guys have each other's numbers, you even have pet-names for the Angels sake!" he cries exasperatedly. I shake my head at him and hop on my bike.

"We are oblivious of our 'feelings' because they are nonexistent. We're just friends." I say to him reasonably.

He shakes his head and mutters something along the lines of, "Yeah, you keep telling yourself that." I don't wait around long enough to retort, and speed off in the direction of our house.

**Hi. So here's another chapter. Enjoy!**

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	8. Ducks?

_Clary POV_

I look at my closet thinking, _How can I have nothing to wear?_ I am looking for an outfit to go to the movies in, but I'm freaking out about what Jace will think. I nervously bite my lip, and run to my phone. I see that I have 1 new message from Jace.

(_Clary/__**Jace**_)

"_**Hey, so we're going to all meet outside of the theatre at around 7:00, and then we'll figure out the movie and all of that."**_

"_Cool. Just a question so that I don't look stupid, how should I dress?"_

"_**Just casual. Izzy would probably kill me if she hears that I told you this, but just what you would wear to hang out at a friend's house or something. No need to wear a dress or anything like that."**_

"_Thanks. I was really worried about showing up and making a fool of myself."_

"_**No problem. See you tonight, Rossa."**_

"_You too, Giallo."_

I put my phone down and sigh, relieved that I don't have to wear a dress or anything. _Not that I actually own one._ I head back over to my closet and start pulling out my outfit. I pull on a pair of dark-gray skinny jeans, a black t-shirt, and combat boots. Then I tuck the Obsidian necklace underneath of my shirt, and shrug on my leather jacket. I grab my phone and about fifty dollars, and meet Jon downstairs. I glance at the clock to see that it is about 6:00. I start getting nervous about the movie, so I start making up a plan in my head to help me survive the night. _I will sit far away from Jace. I will not eat anything for the chances of not spilling it are not in your favor. I will stay silent most of the time, and only speak when necessary, no need to bore everyone with my useless chatter. I will not make a fool of myself. Let Jon do all of the talking. _I silently say in my head.

I am startled out of my thoughts by Jon coming up behind me, and hugging me tightly. I start to protest, when I realize that we haven't spent any time alone together since we came to New York. We used to always spend Friday nights with our spray-paint and watching movies until 3:00 a.m. I miss him, so I turn around into his hug and return the action. He seems startled for a minute, but then just hugs me tighter to him.

"Hey," I say suddenly, breaking the hug. "do you want to go paint before we have to leave?" I ask hopefully. His face breaks into a huge smile, and he nods vigorously.

"Yeah, we haven't done one ever since we were in Maine." He exclaims, exasperatedly. "Let's go right now." He says, pulling me towards the garage. We stock up with a couple spray-paint cans each, and then we head out to our bikes to drive to the painting spot.

We arrive at an old building that has boarded up windows and doors. We park our bikes 1 street over, so that no one is suspicious, and then we get to work. We paint our names on the side of the building, then we step back to admire our work. Jon's is the word 'Morgenstern' abstracted onto the wall, with a mixture of colors bursting from it. Mine is, however, 'Fray' painted on the wall in precise lettering. I put black outlining the letters, and red swirling around the word, causing it to look intricate and dainty. Over-all, it is very pretty. Jon and I high-five each other, and then we hop back on our bikes, and head to the theatre.

**Time Jump**

When we arrive, we see Jace, Izzy, Alec, Magnus, Maia, and Jordan waiting outside for us. I grab my empty paint cans and toss them into the trashcan in front of the building. Jace raises an eyebrow at me, and I smile guiltily. Jon starts walking over to Izzy, when I realize that everyone here, except for me and Jace, is dating someone else in the group. I walk over to him and lower my voice so that only he can hear.

"Did it ever occur to you that everyone else is dating someone. I feel like an extremely un-included third wheel." I state in a hushed whisper. He quietly chuckles.

"I've been dealing with it for years now. I'm perfectly fine with it, but if they start making out, we can ditch and go get ice-cream or do something more fun." He says seriously. I giggle, and we start making our way inside. Izzy cocks an eyebrow at Jace.

"What are you two whispering about?" she accuses. Jace just shrugs.

"Nothing." He says nonchalantly. Izzy smirks.

"_Sure,_ whatever you say." She says in a sing-song voice. She quickly winks at Jace, who is glaring at her, and goes inside. _Did I miss something here? _He quickly regains his composure, and holds open the door for me.

"After you, Rossa." He says in a fake-posh voice. I smirk, and then curtsey.

"Why thank you, Giallo." I say in a British accent. He chuckles, and then follows me inside.

We find the others buying tickets to a horror film, and then we go buy candy and popcorn. Once I see all of the candy I think, _well, there goes the survival plan._ I end up getting a huge bag of sour patch kids, and a soda. Jace decided to get skittles and a soda too. When we are all done, we head into the theatre. There were a lot of open seats, so we all kind of spread out. Jace and I decided to give everybody else some privacy, and sat in the back. We make light conversation until the lights dim, and then we quiet down. Of course, our friends picked one of the stupidest movies out there, so me and Jace just look at each other and roll our eyes. We watch as all of the 'dominant' ones in our friends couples (Jon, Jordan, and Alec), all put their arms over the backs of the others' chairs. Jace and I glance at each other.

"So, cliché." We say in unison and then both burst into laughter. We must have timed this perfectly, because the movie decided to insert evil laughter right then. This just makes us laugh harder, and we get a lot of glares sent in our direction.

We finally calm ourselves down, and try to watch the movie. Our attempts fail though, once all of our friends start making out. I grab a bucket of popcorn that was left by a guy who went to the bathroom, and start chucking pieces at them. Jace notices this, and soon joins in. We throw a couple pieces at their heads when their eyes are closed, and then look away at the movie innocently when they break apart. Jace and I come up with a plan to further our amusement, and we split up. I crawl under peoples' legs in the row behind Izzy and Jon, then jump up while they're making out, and dump the whole thing of popcorn on their heads. Jace does the same thing to Alec and Magnus, and after we do that, we duck down and run off before they can see us. Just as I'm nearing the isle, I see a green wand in front of me, so I have to stop.

The next thing that I know, I am being pulled out of the theatre by an angry looking guy, and Jace is following, being dragged out by another man. I look back at the theatre one last time before the door closes, and see Maia and Jordan, whom we have left alone the entire night, looking on thoroughly amused. I wink at them before the guy drags us out through the enterance, and tells us _not _to come back. I look at Jace, and then we start laughing again. I bump his shoulder with mine, and then we start walking towards the park. He suddenly grabs my hand and laces our fingers together, and it takes all I have within me not to blush. We continue walking until we are at the swing-set, and then we still do not let go of each other. If I said that I didn't like it, I would be lying. His hand sent tingles all the way up my arm whenever our palms would brush together or he would run his thumb across the back of my hand. We sit down on the swings, and then just slightly move back and forth, still holding hands. Jace suddenly looks over at me and breaks the silence.

"So, do you do that often?" he asks teasingly. I let out a breathy chuckle.

"No, only every other Friday." I say back seriously. He laughs and I think, _I could listen to his laugh all day. _

"I can't believe them though. If they wanted to make out, they should've just gone by themselves, and not invited us." He says after a while. I am vaguely aware of the fact that he has not stopped rubbing his thumb in circles around the back of my hand, and I start blushing.

"They probably just wanted a reason to make out in front of each other." I say lightly. He nods along to my words.

"Most likely." He pauses, and then gets up, pulling me along with him. "We are probably two of the stupidest people in New York right now." He states factually. I quirk an eyebrow at him as we walk along the sidewalk.

"And why is that?" I ask curiously. He shrugs.

"Well first of all, we got kicked out of the movie theatre, not even half way through the movie. And secondly, we decided that it would be a good idea to take a walk in Central Park, at 8:30 at night. All that we're missing is a big neon sign that says, 'Mug Me, Free Cash'." He explains. I giggle and nudge him slightly with my elbow.

"True, true. Hey, at least we're trained agents, so it's not like we could actually get mugged." I reason teasingly. He nudges me back.

"Well, that would be true, except for if there was an evil army of ducks." He shudders, proving his statement, causing me to laugh.

"Ducks?! What's wrong with ducks? They're adorable." I exclaim, incredulously. He looks at me like I just kicked a puppy.

"Never, and I mean _never, _use 'ducks' and 'adorable' in the same sentence, ever again. They are not adorable. They're evil, cannibalistic monsters!" he cries dramatically. By now I'm almost crying, I'm laughing so hard.

"Y-you're afraid of _Ducks?!_" I question him in amusement. He gives me a glare that practically screams, 'Traitor'.

"I'm not afraid of ducks. They are just evil little creatures, that deserve to be destroyed." He state indignantly. I pull him along by his hand to a small pet-store.

"C'mon." I say as I open the door. He looks baffled.

"Why are we here?" he asks curiously. I smirk evilly at him, and then compose my features to that of innocence.

"Oh, nothing. The movie won't be over yet, so we have time to spare. I figured that we could look at the animals. I've always wanted a puppy, but I never really got around to it. My problem-fixer is to come and pet the animals at shelters and pet-stores in my free time." I say casually. He looks interested, but still eyes me suspiciously.

"Okay, if you say so." He says warily. We walk over to the counter, and tell the lady that we're just looking. She shrugs with a kind smile, and then goes back to work. I pull Jace over to the puppy-pens, and we start petting them. I see a pen fill of Mastiff puppies, and I run over to it. I pick up a black one with a white belly, and he licks my nose.

"You're so cute." I coo at him. I snuggle my face into his fur and start rubbing his belly. Jace comes up behind me with a Pomeranian, and smirks at me petting the Mastiff.

"Look, I found a squirrel." He imitates in a very high-pitched voice, causing me to giggle.

"I found a soon-to-be giant." I state. Jace looks at the pen's label, then back at me and grins.

"When he grows up, he'll probably weigh more than you." He says teasingly. I shrug, knowing that it's probably true.

"Most likely." I say nonchalantly. I suddenly get an idea, and excuse myself to go talk to the lady at the counter.

"Excuse me, Miss?" she looks up and smiles. "Um, I was just wondering if you had any ducks?" I ask hopefully. She pauses to think, and then smiles brightly, waving me towards the back of the store.

"In fact, we do. May I ask why though?" she asks curiously. I grin wickedly.

"Well you see, my friend over there," I point at Jace, who is petting the black Mastiff. "happens to just _adore _ducks. I figured that he would like to see them." I say with a sarcastic edge to my voice, causing the woman to smirk.

"Well, you tell me how that goes." With that she pats my shoulder and returns to the counter. I look over at Jace, who is now looking at me curiously. I wave him over to the back of the store.

"Look, Jace. I found you a new buddy." I smile evilly, and grab his hand and pull him towards the ducks. I see about 10 little yellow ducks, just waddling around. At first they are quiet, but when they see us, they start quacking. Jace's eyes widen, and he starts backing up slowly, as if not to startle the ducks; that are in a cage might I add. I grin at him and then pick one up, holding it out in front of me. His expression goes from one of caution, to one of panic. He starts to scramble away from the fluffy yellow creature in my hands, and finds himself backed up in a corner.

"Clary, please. I beg of you. Put. The. Duck. Down." He pleads, with a slight waver in his voice. I chuckle at his scared expression, and then thrust the duck forward. He has to bite his lip to not scream, but, despite his efforts, a muffled sound manages to escape. I burst into hysterics, and put the duck back into its cage. Jace glares at me menacingly, before he grins wildly. I immediately stop laughing, and sprint for the front door, yelling a quick, "Good-bye", to the woman at the desk. She waves at me, and then I put on full speed, running down the street towards the theatre. When I'm almost there, Jace grabs me around the waist, and throws me over his shoulder. I laugh, and start pounding on his back, begging him to put me down.

"Put me down Jace." I manage to gasp out, and then giggle as he starts attacking my sides with his fingertips. He laughs mock-darkly.

"Never." He states in a deep voice, before tickling me again. "At least, not until you say 'sorry'." He adds as an afterthought. I giggle again in defeat.

"Okay. Okay, I'm sorry for threatening you with a duck." I say, only to giggle again afterwards because the sentence just sounds so ridiculous. He finally lets me down, nods approvingly, and then chuckles at the way my breath is still coming out in strangled gasps.

"Good. I'm glad that we have an understanding. Truce, Rossa?" he asks innocently. I nod.

"Truce, Giallo." I confirm, shaking his hand. We finally are calmed down enough to go inside the theatre, but then I remember the reason that we were in the pet-store. I press a hand to my forehead and shake my head.

"Jace, we have to wait outside." Noticing his confused expression, I add. "We got kicked out, remember. I highly doubt that they would let us back in after we started throwing popcorn at their customers." I say with a chuckle. A look of understanding crosses his features, and then he chuckles too. He grabs my hand and leads us over to a wall, and we sink down, and wait for the others to come out. Suddenly, we hear a voice calling our names. I lift my head, to see our friends exiting the theatre, completely oblivious of us. I see Izzy pull out her phone and dial a number. Jace's phone rings and he picks it up, clearing his throat before answering.

"Hello, Jace Herondale speaking." He states in a British accent, causing me to stifle a chuckle into my hand. He puts it on speaker, and puts a finger to his lips. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Izzy roll her eyes.

"Where are you?" she demands. "I mean, first you get kicked out of the theatre, then you wonder off with Clary. What is wrong with you?" she rants. Jace and I both simultaneously burst into laughter, causing the six oblivious teenagers to look in our direction. I notice Jon and Jordan smirking at me, and the rest of the group is trying to calm down a fuming Izzy. We stand up, and make our way over to them. Jace sticks his hand out towards Izzy.

"Have we met before? I can't quite remember, but you look familiar." He baits her. She raises a hand to slap him, but Alec catches it before it can do any damage. He turns towards Jace and raises and eyebrow.

"Would you two care to explain to me exactly why you were kicked out of the theatre? Could it possibly be because you felt the need to cover us in popcorn?" he asks sarcastically, already knowing the answer. Jace just smiles innocently, and looks over to me.

"No, Clary and I just decided to go pet some squirrels." He says seriously, sending a sly wink in my direction. I snort, before clearing my throat and nodding. Izzy narrows her eyes at us, points a finger at Jace, and then storms off towards their car. I vaguely hear Jon chuckle, and then we all start laughing.

After we all have calmed down, we start saying our goodbyes. I start heading towards my bike, but a hand on my elbow makes me stop and turn around. Jace stands there with a smile on his face.

"Just wanted to say goodbye." He leans in towards me, and brushes his lips against my cheek, leaving me momentarily stunned. He leans back and whispers, "See you tomorrow, Rossa." He smiles a genuine smile, winks, and then backing up towards his car. Finally coming out of my shock, I smile at him.

"See you tomorrow, Giallo." I call to his receding form. Jon comes up behind me and chuckles.

"Just friends, huh?" he asks, thoroughly amused. I elbow him hard, and hop on my bike. _We are just friends,_ I think on my way back home. _Right?_

**So, there you go. Another chapter. I'm really sorry about uploading late, but school just started so I had homework. High-school sucks.**

**Thank you for all of the positive feedback, and I'll try to keep uploading on time.**

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	9. falling

_Clary POV_

I look around me, and I notice that I can't see a thing. _Where am I?_ I try to stand up, but I am being restrained by chains around my wrists. I pull my knees up to my chest and try to remember what led up to me being chained up in a dark room. _Think, think, think…_

**13 Hours Earlier….**

I pull up to 'the Institute', and get off of my bike. I walk up to the front door, and show the camera my badge. The large doors open and I waltz on inside. I pull out my phone to call my brother, when the intercom comes on.

"Agents for the 4:00 meeting, report to Director Herondale's office. Immediately." It blares. I put my phone away, and start walking towards the office. When I open the doors, I see that Magnus, Alec, Izzy, Simon, Maia, Jordan, Jon, Jace, Will, Jem, Tessa, Maryse, and Director Herondale are already seated around the table. I take a seat beside Jace, and smile when he catches my eye.

"You're late." He whispers. I nudge him with my elbow and shake my head, a smile still plastered on my face.

"No I'm not, you guys are all just early." I say smartly. He grins and turns towards the Director, who is pacing at the head of the table. He finally stops pacing, and looks at all of us.

"Today we are going to start the next step on the Starkweather case. The six agents who won last night's tournament, will be going under-cover. Raphael has already agreed to help us bring down Starkweather, so all that we have to do is gather enough information to bring him down. You will all have to wear disguises, and will be wearing wires, so that we can communicate with you while you are in the field. Agents Lewis and Roberts will be monitoring you while under-cover. Agents Lightwood1, Lightwood2, Gray, and Carstairs will be shadowing you at all times. You will always have back-up, so you should be completely safe. Tonight, your mission will deploy. Agents Morgenstern, Fray, Herondale, Herondale2, Kyle, and Bane, will infiltrate Starkweather's safe-house by joining Raphael on a payment. He will get you in and out, but you must gather as much information as possible." He pauses to take a deep breath, and then continues. "There is a hard-drive that has all of his plans on it. It is located in the office where you will meet with Starkweather and his men for payment. Raphael is going to do the deal, while you six grab the hard-drive. If you manage to get the hard-drive, he will be able to be arrested. We will put him away forever, and will be guaranteed to win the case because the hard-drive basically has proof of every crime he has ever committed." He looks around the room, and then glances at me and Jace. "I would like Agents Herondale and Fray to retrieve the hard-drive. You two have impeccable teamwork, and your skills are exactly what we need." He offers us a brief smile, before returning to 'mission-mode'. I feel Jace reach under the table and interlock his fingers in mine. I shyly glance at him from the corner of my eye, and he smiles at me and squeezes my hand. I feel tingles run all the way up my arm, and I return the pressure. "You will all need to report back to Headquarters at 7:00 to prepare for your mission. Now that I have said that, do you accept your mission?" he questions us.

"Yes, sir." We all say simultaneously. The Director nods.

"Good. You are dismissed." He states, before talking quietly to Maryse in the corner of the room. I stand up from my seat and start heading towards the door.

When I'm almost to my bike, Jace grabs my wrist. I turn around to look at him and raise an eyebrow. He smiles at me.

"So, I have a surprise for you." He randomly blurts out. His eyes are full of excitement, so I smile a little.

"A surprise? What for?" I ask curiously. He just shrugs.

"Follow me to my place and you'll find out." He says while walking towards his car. I dubiously shake my head, and then hop on my bike to follow him.

After driving for about 15 minutes, we pull up to a house that is extremely nice. The outside is a dark brown color, and has Dark wooden doors. I hop off of my bike, and follow Jace inside.

"Mom, I'm home." He calls out. Moments later, Celine pops her head out of the kitchen.

"Hi, honey. Hi, Clary." She greets us with a warm smile before disappearing again. Jace grabs my hand and pulls me to the backyard. It is very well-kept, and has a large pool. He leads me over to a small metal pen, and whistles.

"C'mere, Oli." He calls. I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Who's Oli?" I ask. He points to the pen, and I see the little black Mastiff from the pet-store. I squeal and pick him up. Jace chuckles.

"I told you that I had a surprise for you." He states still chuckling.

"I can't believe that you bought him. He's so cute." I state while rubbing Oli's belly.

"I actually got him for you." I look at him, shocked. "The store was going out of business, and the lady noticed how much you liked him, so she gave me a really good deal on him." He amends. I'm still staring at him, so I stare at Oli instead.

"Why did you get him for _me?_" I ask confused. Jace just shakes his head, deep in thought.

"You said that you always wanted one, so I figured, 'Hey, why not?" he says nonchalantly. I carefully set Oli down, before running at him and hugging him to death. He chuckles and hugs me back.

"Thank you." I say, muffled by his shirt. I suddenly am very aware of how close we are, and awkwardly detach myself from him. I clear my throat, while he awkwardly chuckles. Suddenly I think, _How am I supposed to get Oli home?_ I look up at Jace who is intently staring at me. "How am I going to get him to my house?" I ask. His eyes widen for a second, before they brighten.

"I can follow you home with my car, and drop him off. I took him home from the pet-store that way." He says. I nod, and then sit on the ground with Oli. He climbs on my lap and suddenly falls asleep. Jace chuckles and sits down beside me. "I think that he likes his new owner." He says factually. I smile at him, and then lean my head against his shoulder. He automatically wraps an arm around my shoulders, and then lays his head on top of mine.

"So, are you nervous about tonight?" I ask, breaking the silence. He is quiet for a while before he finally speaks.

"I don't really know, to tell you the truth. I mean, I am kind of worried about failing the mission, but that is usual before an assignment. I guess that I'm just unsure that we know all of the information about this guy. He is psychotic and ruthless. You would like to think that he has something that important locked up eight feet underground, in a highly secure vault." He reasons. I think about this for a while before I nod.

"I have been thinking about that, but you have to remember that he is proud. He probably thinks that he has enough security to keep it safe. It's a way of taunting the enemy." I say. Jace stares at me for a while, before nodding and standing up.

"We should probably get Oli over to your house." He offers a hand down to me, and I take it, allowing him to pull me up. I snuggle Oli to my chest as we walk back through Jace's house. When we get to his car, I set Oli down gently in the front seat. Jace places his jacket around him, and then shuts the door. I start walking towards my bike, and he walks around to the driver's side.

"Follow me." I call back to him. He nods, and then we take off. When we arrive at my house, Jace walks me to the door carrying Oli. I take the sleeping puppy from him, and lean in to kiss his cheek. I pull away, to find that he has a dazed look on his face. "Thank you." I say softly. He seems to snap out of his trance, and smiles brightly at me.

"No problem." He says before he starts walking back towards his car. "See you tonight, Rossa." He calls back to me. I smile at him and wave.

"Tonight, Giallo." I promise before going inside of my house. I bring Oli into my room, and lay him down onto my bed. I sit down next to him and go over the events that just happened. _Just friends. You're just friends, _I try to convince myself. _Oh, well. You know that you're falling for him. Just admit it already, _the reasonable side of my conscience tells me. _Friends. Just friends, _the stubborn side repeats itself over and over again. I am so caught up in my internal dialog, that I don't notice Jon coming into my room until he speaks.

"Clary, why is there a small dog on your bed?" he asks warily, making me jump out of surprise. I press a hand to my chest to try and slow down my pulse.

"Jesus, Jon! You could've given me a heart-attack!" I exclaim, and then register his question. "Um, Jon this is Oli. He's my dog." I state with an innocent smile. He looks at me incredulously, before petting Oli.

"I'll admit that he's cute. Where did you get a dog?" he asks curiously. I struggle to fight the smile from my face at the thought of today's earlier events.

"Jace." I state as casually as I can, but Jon smirks at me all the same.

"I knew it!" he cries in an overly high-pitched voice. "You two are _so perfect for each other!" _he stands up and continues his little charade. "We have to plan your wedding, and get your dress… Oh! What are you going to name your children?" he rants, waking up Oli in the process. He looks at Jon funny, before running and hiding behind my back.

"Jon, stop. Look what you did to poor little Oli." I chastise him, before picking up Oli and cooing at him. "It's okay, I'll protect you from big, bad old Jonathan." I say while rubbing his belly. Jon walks over to me, and starts to pet Oli too.

An hour later, we are in the backyard chasing Oli around, because he keeps biting Jon's ankles.

"Jon, just sit down, and he'll stop." I call to my big brother, who is chasing after a 10 pound puppy. I roll my eyes when he final catches him, and then proceeds to rub his belly. I see a small brown head pop over our fence, and I recognize Max.

"Hi, Clary. What are you doi-," he stops when he sees Oli, and before I know it, is climbing over the fence to see him. "Clary! Why didn't you tell me that you got a dog?" he exclaims, excitedly. I shrug, and then pick up Oli and hand him to Max.

"I just got him today. Do you think that you can watch him for me tonight?" I ask hopefully. Max's eyes get huge, and then he nods vigorously.

"Of course. I'll have to ask my dad, but I think that I can." He says confidently. As if on cue, Robert walks through the gate and comes over to us. He smiles kindly at Jon and I, and then looks over at Max, who is still holding Oli. He raises an eyebrow at me and I shrug.

"Dad, Clary asked me to watch Oli tonight. Can I?" he asks hopefully. Robert looks to me for confirmation, and I nod. He looks back over to Max, and nods with a sigh.

"I guess." He teases. Max whoops, and then runs off with Oli towards his house. I chuckle, then wave goodbye to Robert. I climb the stairs of the porch, and head inside to get ready for tonight. I look at the clock in the kitchen, and it reads 6:15. _Oh, shit. Gotta go._

**Time Jump 7:00**

I walk through the doors of 'the Institute' with Jon in a hurry. We couldn't get through traffic quick enough, so it is 7:00 right now, and we are late. We jog into the foyer, to see that everybody is already there. I run over to Simon, and he automatically starts putting on my wire. While he is doing this, I look around the room. I spot Will, Magnus, and Jordan all getting their disguises on. Will has on light-brown hair and brown contacts. Magnus has his hair de-glitterified and has in blue contacts. Jordan has a dirty-blonde wig on and green contacts. They all look really different, but that's okay. I move my gaze over to Jace, and find that I can barely recognize him; he has stark-black hair with blonde high-lights, and brown contacts on. _I like his 'golden boy' appearance much better_, I think. I am startled out of my thoughts by Simon snapping his fingers in front of my face.

"Clary? Clary, you're ready to go put on your disguise." He says tiredly. I smile at him briefly, before I walk over to Izzy. She looks up as I approach.

"Hi, Clary. Are you ready to be beautified?" she asks. I shrug and let her get to work.

About 30 minutes later, she hands me a mirror. Do you know in the movies, when the girl turns around and everybody gasps at how pretty she is? Where she doesn't recognize herself? Well, that's not completely true. I mean, I look _fucking hot_, but I still recognize myself. Izzy put a dark-brown wig on my head, and styled it into bouncy curls on my back. She used concealer to cover up my freckles, and put smoky eye-shadow around my eyes. I have dark purple lipstick on, and she gave me brown contacts. _If I could, I would fuck me,_ thinks my inner cocky self. _Focus, _commands my inner drill sergeant.

Izzy hands me a plastic bag with clothing in it, and orders me to go put it on. I walk over to the bathroom, and shut the door. When I open the bag, I just about burn it. The dress is _pink. Oh hell no. _just as I'm about to open the door to go scream at Izzy, a knock erupts from the other side. I open the door, to find Maryse standing there with another bag.

"Sorry. We mixed up the disguises." She sends me an apologetic smile, switches out the bags, and then leaves. This time when I open the bag, I smile. There are a pair of black skinny-jeans with hidden weapons compartments, a black tank-top with more hidden compartments, a leather jacket that has more places to stash weapons, and some stiletto boots that go up to my knees. I suspiciously pound one on the surface of the sink, and the toe unsheathes a knife out of the front. I smirk while pulling on the outfit. _Painful. _Lastly, I put on my Obsidian necklace,and head out of the bathroom. I find everyone in the weapons room. I quietly walk up behind everyone.

"Boo!" I exclaim, causing everybody to start. They all turn around, and then their eyes widen. I furrow my brow, and ask, "What?" Izzy seems to snap out of it first, because she smirks.

"_Damn,_ if I wasn't straight, I'd do you." She says with an impresses chuckle. I smile shyly, and then catch sight of Jon. He looks like he is having an internal battle as to compliment me, or to tell me to go change. He finally just sighs, and opens his arms for a hug. I step into them gratefully.

"You're growing up too fast. Stop." He mumbles in my ear, causing me to giggle. I pull away from him, and look back at the group. Magnus makes a show of looking me up and down, before he speaks.

"Darling, she's absolutely right. You could turn the gayest man straight." He says with a wink. Noticing Alec's worried glance he says, "Of course, I'm bisexual. You've got nothing to worry about." That comment doesn't seem to help much, so they just start making out. I roll my eyes and walk over to the wall of knives. While I'm hidig knives in my boots, I can feel a presence come up from behind me. When I stand up again, I see that it's only Jace. He smiles at me and continues to add knives into his gear.

"I like your hair blonde better." I state casually. He chuckles.

"Me and you both, Rossa." He says. He finishes getting his weapons, and leans towards my ear. "By the way, you look beautiful." He states before walking right back to where he came from. I blush, and try to hide behind my brown curls.

**Time Jump 8:00**

We are all presently sitting in the back of a large black Excursion, and we are waiting for Raphael to drive us to the meeting place. It has been really awkward ever since we got into the car. He finally stops at a large mansion, and the first thing I think is, _We're gonna die._ We all get out, and start towards the large building. The doors open, and a very posh looking man leads us to the office. I take notice of the 10 guards that are surrounding the walls. Hodge is seated behind a very large desk, and is looking through papers. I notice a black pendant around his neck, and automatically think, _The little shit has a panic button. _I try to figure a way to fix this, but before I can even think, Hodge speaks up.

"Ah, Mr. Santiago. Please, sit." He gestures to the empty seat in front of him. While Raphael sits, we all stand shoulder to shoulder behind him. "Now, I imagine that you have your payment?" he questions. Raphael nods, and then starts digging into the back-pack that he brought. While they are distracted, I look around. I notice a box on a shelf behind Hodge that has a hard-drive suspended in the middle of it. _Bingo._ _Now all that we have to do, is figure out how to get him away from that damn panic button._ I am brought out of my thoughts by Hodge yelling, "What is this?" Raphael grins like a Cheshire cat, and then jumps out of his chair. He pulls out a bag full of 'merchandise', and drops it on the table.

"My dealers want a refund." He states simply, before lunging at Hodge. The others all turn around and take out the guards, while I sprint to the hard-drive. I grab it out of the case, and shove it in my pocket, before turning back to Raphael.

"He has a panic button!" I scream at him, but before he can grab it, Hodge has already pushed it. My eyes widen, and I yell to the others, "Lock the door!" they obey, and then come to stand by me. Raphael punches Hodge in the face, and then screams. I look over to see that he has a knife sticking out of his ribcage. My heart plummets, and cold-rage takes over my actions. I shove the hard-drive into Jon's pocket, and lunge at him. I start beating the living-shit out of him, and I don't hear the window break. I land one last blow to his face, before there are agents getting everybody out. Just as I am about to jump out of the window, the doors fly open. I hear something whooshing towards my face, but I duck. I try to jump again, but I suddenly feel pain in my neck. I reach my hand up and feel something cold. I pluck it out of my skin, and see a dart. _Knock-out dart. Shit!_ My legs immediately fail me, and I see gold right before my vision fades into oblivion.

**Present Time**

I reach up to my neck and grab the obsidian necklace. _I am alone, most likely in some sort of dungeon, and I don't even know if they got the hard-drive. Dammit._ Suddenly, I vaguely hear a strangled gasp. I frantically look for the owner of the sound, and I feel a hand on my elbow. Startled, I scoot backwards.

"H-hello?" I hesitantly call out. I hear a relieved sigh, and then I am enveloped into strong arms.

"Clary! Rossa, I thought that you were dead. I couldn't see you. I was so worried." Whispers a very familiar voice. The arms squeeze me tighter, and I try to make out the figure. I can barely see, but I will always know those eyes.

"_Jace?_"

**Dum, Dum, Dum.** **So, yeah. Here's another chapter.**

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	10. gone

_Clary POV_

I cling to Jace's arm. He tightens his hold on me, and then starts rubbing small circles into my back. The motion is oddly soothing. I tug on my chains again. We are sitting in the corner of the dark room. I can't even see 3 feet in front of me, but I can almost make out Jace. We have been sitting in the same position, hugging each other tightly, for about an hour now. We haven't spoken out of fear of someone coming into the room. I have so many questions, so I finally muster up the courage to ask.

"Giallo?" I ask warily in a hushed tone. He moves his head, so that it rests on top of mine.

"Yes, Rossa?" he whispers back. I shift so that I am facing his chest, and bury my face in the crook of his neck.

"Can you tell me what happened?" I ask. "I mean after I passed out." I clarify. He is silent for a moment, before taking in a deep breath.

"Well, you got shot with the dart. We didn't see the dart going at you, so we thought that you got shot. Jon tried to go help you, but he was already out of the building. Plus he had the hard-drive, so I came. I tried to carry you towards the window, but there were too many guards." He pauses to clear his throat, before continuing. "I tried to fight them off, but my gun ran out of ammo. They basically put handcuffs on me, and shoved me into the basement. I've been down here for about 10 hours, give or take a few. I was so scared for you." His voice quivers. "They just dumped you on the floor. I thought that you were dead. You don't even know how relieved I was when you sat up." He says, the emotion in his voice causing my breath to catch. He hugs me back to his chest, and then continues. "Raphael is dead. He wasn't even breathing when the windows broke. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that I couldn't save us." He says guiltily. I bring my hand up towards his face, and caress his cheek. _Ooh, sensual. _

"Jace, it's not your fault. If anybody is at fault, it's most likely Headquarters." He makes a confused noise. "You were right. You said that they should've checked into this more, but they didn't. I bet that they didn't even know about the panic button. He most likely just got it installed, so the Agency didn't bother to update their security records." I look into his eyes fiercely, or as well as I can in the dark. "Do. Not. Blame. Yourself." I tell him, leaving no room for argument. He is quiet for a while before he speaks.

"You're amazing. Do you know that?" he says factually, a slight hint of pride in his voice. I smirk, and put my face back in the crook of his neck.

"I know. I guess that it just comes naturally to me." I tease, and get a small smile out of him. He chuckles lightly, before pulling me fully onto his lap. It is so sudden, that I let out a small gasp. He chuckles again, and his breath runs across the back of my neck, causing me to shiver.

"Are you cold?" he asks, and I can practically hear the smirk in his voice. I muster up the strength to shake my head, but he is already hugging me tighter, and I can do nothing but reciprocate the action.

We must have just sat there hugging each other for hours, before a light suddenly turns on. It causes me to jump, but I can't see anything for a few seconds because the light is so bright. Jace gently pushes me behind him, and I finally get to look around the room that we have been I for only god knows how long. It is most definitely the basement. The walls are all made of stone, and we are in some sort of cell. There are bars on the other side, about 10 feet away from where we are chained up, and I can see another cell on the other side of the hallway that runs through the middle. _I thought that we were in the 21__st__ century here, people._ I look down at my wrists, to find that they are red, and almost bleeding in some areas from yanking on them. I try to stand up again, but the chains are still too short. _Grow, god dammit!_ I sigh, and scoot away from Jace. He is glaring at the bars, and tugging on his 'shackles'. We both take off our wigs and our contacts, because there is no sense in hiding now.

Suddenly, I hear footsteps coming towards our cell. Jace and I glance at each other, before a man comes into view. He is wearing a black suit, and looks like he is in his late 40s. He has a buzz-cut and a weapons belt on. I quickly pat all of my pockets, but they must've taken my weapons. I vaguely remember the blades in my boots, and I reach down to 'tie' my shoe. I feel cold metal on the side, and tuck it down even further. _Well, at least I have a knife,_ thinks my ironic inner self. The man presses a finger against his ear, startling me out of my thoughts. _What are you, the Secret Service?_

"Sir, they are awake." He says in a voice that makes me think, _Well, somebody doesn't like his job._ He pauses for a second, before saying, "Right away, Sir." He unlocks the door to the cell, and then walks over towards Jace. "Now, are you going to be a good little boy, or will I have to restrain you?" he questions in a mocking tone. I glance up at Jace, and have to take a double-take. He has a split lip, black-eye, and there is dried blood around his hairline. I frown, and I would've ran my hand across his face to make sure that he was alright, but then I remember that there is a 'scary-guard-guy' here also. Jace glares at the man, but nods his head all the same. The Scary-Guard-Guy leans down, and unlocks Jace's manacles. He then walks over to me, and unlocks mine. He looks at my face for a minute, and then he smirks poisonously.

"If only you didn't work for the Agency. We could've had so much fun with you." He says in a disappointed tone, but steps away from me when Jace literally growls at him. His eyes widen fractionally, and he looks absolutely terrified. Jace comes over to me, and wraps an arm around my shoulder, pulling me to his side. The guard pulls out his gun, sets his jaw, and glares at the action. "C'mon, then. Walk." He pushes Jace forward, and then Jace hesitantly walks out of the cell. He nudges my shoulder with the gun when I don't move, and I follow right after Jace, his arm still around my shoulder.

When we exit the cell, I notice that there are about twenty more cells just like that one. _Dungeon, _I immediately think, but shake the thought away. _You need to focus, _I chastise myself. We reach the end of the hallway, and then walk up a log set of stairs. We are then escorted to a large library, that has books lining the walls two stories high. I quickly school my features into those of disinterest, but on the inside I am squealing and jumping up and down. Jace's eyes widen slightly, but otherwise he looks just about as bored as I am pretending to be. I see a head of whitish-grey hair popping out above one of the large plush chairs, and the Scary-Guard-Guy leads us around to the front of it. What I see next just about makes me piss myself from laughter. Hodge is sitting in front of a large fireplace, petting a white cat, while staring at us like a hawk. I burst out laughing before I can even think about stopping myself, and Jace soon joins in. A sharp pain in the side of my face shuts me up, and I look over at Scary-Guard-Guy. He is scowling menacingly at me, but immediately makes his face blank when I have to hold Jace back from murdering him on the spot. My attention is regained by Hodge clearing his throat. Scary-Guard-Guy respectfully bows his head towards him, and says,

"I brought them as you requested, Sir." Hodge nods, and waves a dismissive hand.

"Thank you, Pangborn. You are no longer needed." He states in a professional tone. My eyes widen at the guard's name, and I start shaking slightly from the memories that have haunted me for seven years. _Pangborn?! He was working with Hodge when my parents died. He was the one who was on the phone with Hodge._ My brain just keeps rambling on and on, until Jace nudges me with his elbow, and sends me a worried glance. I slightly shake my head, and turn back towards Hodge. "Now, what are your names, agents?" he asks coldly. I keep my face impassive, and so does Jace. We automatically make a silent agreement to not tell him our names. He might not recognize us. He makes a frustrated sigh, and then pushes a button on a remote, that I didn't notice that was in his hand.

The doors open, to reveal six guards, all carrying weapons. They walk into the library, and suddenly grab ahold of me and Jace. I see Jace struggle against their hold for a moment, before giving in. there are three guards that are holding Jace, two holding me, and one guard walks over to Hodge. He is holding a black coil, but when I look closer, it is a deadly looking whip. My eyes widen, and I look over at Jace, who is staring at me with concerned-panic in his eyes. I look back over to Hodge, to see that he is taking the whip, and starts walking towards us. He nods his head in my direction, and the gaurds force me to the ground. They handcuff my wrists, and pull the chains tight. I see Jace struggling again, but his guards eventually overpower him, and manage to handcuff his hands too. I am facing the fireplace so I can't see Hodge, but I can hear his footsteps approaching me. I tense all over when he leans down to whisper in my ear.

"I said, what are your names?" he whispers dangerously. I swallow hard, and then look over to Jace. He meets my eye, and nods slightly. _'Don't tell them.' 'Okay.'_ Taking my silence as an answer, Hodge stands up again, and kicks me in my abdomen, but when I try to curl into myself, I can't because the guards are still holding my chains. Hodge clucks his tongue. "Tsk, Tsk. Not going to answer are we?" he says mockingly. "Well, you will answer me. Even if it means that I have to break you." He says darkly, and with that, he brings the whip down across my back. It cuts through my shirt, because they confiscated my jacket, and I can feel the blood welling up already. I try my hardest not to scream when he brings the whip down again, but it manages to escape without my consent. I can vaguely hear Jace yelling for him to stop, but it soon becomes muffled. Hodge brings down the whip again and again, and soon I am almost blinded be the searing pain in my back. I cry out when he brings the whip down one last time, and then he turns towards Jace. "Would you like to tell me now?" he asks cruelly. I manage to look over at Jace, and I see him nodding. One of the guards takes out his gag, and he breaths in deeply. I notice the tears that are threatening to spill out of his eyes, but he manages to calm himself down before speaking. "Agents Fray and Herondale." He spits out. He death glares Hodge, who is looking rather pleased with himself, before turning his gaze towards me. I can vaguely feel the silent tears falling onto my cheeks, and his expression just makes me shed more. His eyes show heartbreak, and he looks as if he is about to start crying himself. Hodge nods to the guards, and they let my arms down. I immediately collapse onto the floor, and I try to curl up into a ball. Hodge clears his throat. "Well, now that you have cooperated, you may go back to your cells." He looks over to Pangborn. "Return them to their cells immediately." He barks at him, and then waltzes out of the room as if I hadn't just been beaten within an inch of my life.

The guards that are holding Jace let go of him, and he runs over to me. I whimper when he runs a hand down the side of my face, and then have to muffle a scream when he gently lifts me into his arms. I turn my face into his neck, close my eyes, and then silently start crying. I am vaguely aware of him walking us towards our cell, but I moan in pain when he lays me down on my stomach. I open my eyes, and notice that I am on a bed. Jace is getting things from a guard at the front of the room, and I notice that we are not in our old cell. This room is completely white. White walls, white tile, white bed; well _was_ white bed. It is now covered in blood. _My_ blood. Jace walks back over to me and kneels down by the side of the bed. He reaches a hand up to my face, and brushes some of the fallen hair back. I whimper again from the pain, and he gently kisses my forehead. _If I was not in so much pain, I would be blushing so badly right now, _I think. He stands up, and gently pulls my shirt up. He finds that it isn't going to come off without hurting me, so he gets a pair of medical scissors and cuts the material up the back. I start shaking when he has to get the material out of my wounds, but he keeps making calming noises, so I try to keep calm. He gasps at the sight of my butchered back, and looks into my eyes.

"Rossa, this is going to hurt really badly, but I have to do it. You can punch me afterwards if needed be." He says solemnly. I nod my head, and he hands me a washcloth to bite down on. I take it with a shaky hand, and then watch as he returns to the pile of medical supplies in the corner of the room.

"Giallo?" I ask weakly. He turns towards me with concern etched into all of his features. "H-how many are there?" I manage to choke out. His expression is confused for a moment, before his eyes light up with understanding. He stands up, and walks back over to me, a brown bottle in his hand.

"7, Rossa. There's 7 of them." He says softly, but I can see the hatred in his eyes. My eyes widen, and then fill with tears again. He brushes his thumb against my cheek, wiping away fallen tears, and then he nods his head towards me. "Are you ready?" he asks. I take a deep breath, place the washcloth in my mouth, and then nod. He hesitates for a second, before he starts pouring the liquid on my back. If I had any doubts about what was in the bottle before, I'm completely positive of its contents now. Alcohol. Rubbing Alcohol. It stings like a bitch, and I unconsciously start screaming into the mattress. The pain is so overwhelming, that I start to see black dots dance in my vision. Jace finally finishes, and then continues to clean the wounds, bandage them, and helps me sit up. He runs back over to the medical supplies, and then brings me back two pills and a bottle of water. I take the medicine, and then decide to look around the room again.

Above the door, sits a clock that reads, 11:15. I look more closely at the door, and notice that it looks like it belongs in a mental institution. It is completely metal, painted white, and has a small window near the top, that I most likely can't reach. Jace is sitting across from me on another small bed, and has his face in his hands. I gingerly stand up, and then go sit next to him. He looks up at me when I sit down, and I take note that his eyes are so very sad. It makes my heart clench.

"Are you okay?" I ask softly. He stares at me, shocked for a moment, before his lip twitches slightly. He shakes his head and scoffs incredulously.

"Even after you get _whipped,_ you are still worried about me?" he asks incredulously, with a hint of awe. "Rossa, if anybody should be asking that, it's me. I mean…" he trails off as I grab his hand. I intertwine our fingers together before speaking.

"Yes. You look really sad, and that makes me sad. So you should tell me why you're sad, Giallo." I whisper while leaning my head against his shoulder. He slowly lays his head on top of mine, and rubs circles into the back of my hand.

"I just-," he starts. He swallows before speaking again. "I just feel so bad that you're hurt. I wish that there was something that I could've done. It almost killed me to see you like that." He lowers his voice to a whisper. "I wish that it were me that got hurt. Not you. _Never _you." He finishes sadly. I squeeze his hand tighter, and then let go. I carefully stand up, and stand in front of him. I slowly wrap my arms around his large form, and he lightly hugs me back, careful to not hurt me. I put my forehead against his collarbone, and he rests his cheek atop of my head.

"I never said thank you. For trying to save me, for bandaging me up, for everything." I whisper. He kisses the top of my head, and brings me onto his lap. He gingerly holds me while I start playing with his fingers.

"I would do it all again." He whispers back. "But slightly better." He says as an afterthought, causing me to chuckle, and then wince from the jerky movements. He looks down at me worriedly. "Are you alright?" he asks, concerned. I nod and take in a shuddering breath.

"Yeah. The movement just hurt a little." I say nonchalantly. He is still looking at me worriedly, so I smile a small smile at him. "Really, the pills helped. I can almost not feel anything except for when I move around too fast." I reassure him. He still looks doubtful, but lets it go anyway. He suddenly gets a goofy grin on his face, and I can't help but ask, "What?" he grins at me, and then pulls something out from underneath of the pillow that is on the bed. I look closer, and realize that it is a 9mm. My eyes widen, and I look back up at Jace. "Where did you get that? They took all of my guns." I exclaim excitedly. He shakes his head with a chuckle.

"I got it off of one of the guards. He was basically just handing it to me. It was sticking right out of his pocket." He explains. I grin at him, and then pull out the knife from my boot. He whistles lowly, and then meets my eyes. "We just might be able to get out." He says. My grin widens, and then I giggle.

"I could literally kiss you right now." I whisper. His eyes darken, and he leans in towards me.

"Why don't you?" he asks daringly. My breath catches, and then we are both leaning towards each other. When our lips meet, it feels like sparks are igniting. His lips are warm and soft against mine, and they slowly start adding pressure to the light kiss. He gently cups my face in his hand, and kisses me more urgently. Our lips move in unison together, like gears. If one turns, the other follows. He gently repositions us so that I am straddling him, and then his tongue runs over my bottom lip. I allow him access without hesitation, and then I feel his tongue gently caressing mine. We intertwine our tongues, and I reach a hand up to his hair. I lightly pull on it, and he growls deep in his throat. He takes my bottom lip in between his teeth, and lightly bites down on it, causing me to tug on his hair again. When we finally break apart, I start giggling. We are both out of breath, so our heavy breathing mixes together in the space between us. He quirks an eyebrow at me, and then smirks at my behavior.

"The words that we just said were just _so_ cheesy." I manage to say through my giggling. He starts chuckling too then. I climb off of his lap, and lay down on my stomach. He lies next to me and pulls me next to him. He runs a hand through my hair, and I rest my head against his chest.

That's how we are sitting when we hear footsteps approaching our cell. I jump off of Jace as quickly as possible, and he hides the gun in the waistband of his pants. A guard comes into our room, and handcuffs us.

"Move. We are relocating." He states in a firm voice. Jace looks at the guard confusedly.

"Where are we 'relocating' to?" he asks curiously. The guard glares at him, before he nudges him with his gun. He doesn't answer the question, but instead leads us outside, where a private jet is parked. There are guards all over the place, so we would never make it if we tried to escape. I exchange a panicked glance with Jace, but don't get to say anything before we are forced to board the jet. The guard handcuffs us to our chairs, and then wonders off. Hodge boards the jet, and then we are off. Jace grabs my hand.

"Everything will be alright." He whispers to me, before the jet takes off.

_Everything will be alright, _I think to myself, when in fact, nothing is alright.

**So, there's another chapter. Hope you like it. Enjoy!**

**To answer your questions:**

**1. Oli is an Italian Mastiff. **

**2. I am debating on whether or not to add in some of Jace's POVs. Sometimes they work really well in the story, and sometimes they don't. I will decide soon. It all depends on whether I have enough 'inspiration' for that or not.**

**Thank you for all of the positive feedback. : D**

**Review&Follow**


	11. be free

_Clary POV_

Jace rubs slow circles into the back of my hand as the plane takes us to our 'relocation'. I am seated in a very comfortable chair at the front of the jet. Hodge is seated somewhere else, and there are about 20 guards sitting in close proximity to me and Jace. Jace is slouching in his chair, with his head tilted back and his eyes closed. We have been in the air for about one hour now, so it's probably around 1:00. I am in the window seat, so I look out the window. The clouds are puffy, and it looks like little cherubs could be living in them. The sun is really bright, and the sky is bright blue. You don't usually see the sky so blue in New York, so we must be heading somewhere outside of the city. I glance over to Jace, to see that he has his eyes open now, and he is staring at me intently.

"What are you thinking?" he asks curiously. I shrug.

"Just bored." I state plainly. He smirks at me and gets a mischievous glint in his eye. He suddenly starts whistling loudly. I look at him questioningly, but he just gives me a look that says, 'trust me'. A guard comes over to us, looking pissed off.

"Shut up." He demands. Jace stops whistling, only to then start making his handcuffs clank against the seat. He guard comes back over, and nudges Jace's shoulder with his gun. "I said shut up. What do you want?" he asks incredulously. Jace finally stops making noise, and looks at the guard.

"I have to piss." He states factually. I am red in the face from trying not to laugh, while the guard is trying to murder Jace with his gaze.

"Hold it in." the guard states before walking away. Jace and I burst into laughter, and Jace makes a big show of looking back at where the guard is seated.

"Where's the hospitality?" he practically wails, causing me to laugh even harder. The guard flips him off, and Jace just smirks at him. "Sorry, dude. I don't bat for that team." We finally are able to calm ourselves down, and we are content to just hold each other's hands. He puts his arm that isn't cuffed to his seat around my shoulders, and pulls me to him. I rest my head on his shoulder, and he rests his cheek on my head. I grab his hand, and lightly tart tracing the veins and drawing designs on it, causing him to chuckle. He kisses the top of my head.

"What are we going to do?" he whispers into my ear. I glance up at him, and slightly shake my head.

"I don't know. We will get out of here though." I promise him in a hushed tone. His eyes slightly glaze over, and then sharpen, inspecting my face with a worried gaze.

"How's your back?" he asks concernedly. I smile at him, and snuggle into his side more.

"Whatever those pills were that you gave me, they really helped." I say. I furrow my brow suddenly. "What _were_ those pills, Giallo?" I ask curiously. Jace seems to think for a moment, before perking up.

"I am almost positive that they were a dry version of morphine. Maybe something else. I don't really know. The guard just said that they would help with the pain." He says, biting his lip in thought. I nod, and then a lady, in a very short dress, rolls a tray down the isle. She stops at our row, and presses a button on the wall in front of us. Two tables pop out, and slide so that they are over our laps. She then looks to us, and smiles at us with pity. _I don't want your pity, bitch._

"Hi, I'm Camille. I'll be serving you today." She says softly, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "You most likely are starving, so I'll come back to get your orders in a moment." And with that, she moves on to the next row. I pick up the menu from my table, and start looking through it. Jace looks over at me questioningly.

"You don't think that they poisoned it, do you?" he stage whispers to me. I giggle and then look back down at the menu. It has tons of different food dishes on it, and I pick out a simple BLT sandwich. Now that I think about it, I haven't eaten for a really long time. The last time that I ate, was before we met up with Raphael, so at least 17 hours. I really am starving. By the looks of it, Jace is too. Before we know it, Camille walks back over to us, and opens a compartment n the tray that she has. She looks up at us expectantly, and I gesture for Jace to go first.

"BLT." He simply states. I smile a little at his choice.

"Same." I say quietly. He looks over at me, and smirks.

"Copying me now are you?" he teases. I playfully roll my eyes.

"You wish." I state, before Camille sets down our plates, and walks off to serve more people. We eagerly dig into our food, and finish within 30 minutes. Jace looks over at me in amazement.

"I would've never known, that a tiny thing like you could eat that much. You almost beat me!" he exclaims with a large smile on his face. I scowl at his wordage.

"I'm not tiny." I cry. He looks at me disbelievingly. "Okay, so I'm vertically challenged. So what?" I sheepishly admit, causing him to chuckle.

"I like you that way." He whispers, before pulling me to him.

**Time Jump**

I am startled awake, by a soft voice whispering in my ear.

"Rossa, wake up. We're here." Jace's soft voice says. He gently kisses my forehead, and then I choose that moment to let my eyes flutter open. He is softly smiling at me, and I notice that it is really dark wherever we are. I sit up slowly, and remove myself from his lap. The jet is slowly moving, and it stops finally.

A guard comes over to us, and un-handcuffs us from our seats. We are escorted off of the jet, and into a black car. Hodge isn't with us, so he probably took another car. I am seated by a large man, and Jace is on the other side of me. He impatiently taps his foot on the floor of the car, and suddenly sits up straight.

"Holy shit." He whispers, looking out of the window. I lean over to look, only to gasp at the site. The Eiffel Tower stands proudly in the distance, and city lights surround us. Jace and I frantically glance at each other, and we are thinking the same thing. _'Paris! Why are we in Paris?'_ I scoot closer to Jace, and he grabs my cuffed hands and holds them in between his. I am on the verge of a panic-attack. _Holy fucking shit! Paris. We're in Paris. Now even if we do happen to escape, we'll have to find a way back home. I thought that they were relocating us in the U.S. Not in Paris. _I start shaking, and the guy next to me notices. He nudges my shoulder, but I am so zoned out, that I just keep staring out of the window. He looks over at Jace worriedly.

"Hey, man. Is she okay?" he asks us uncertainly. Jace is looking at me in concern too, but he nods at the guy.

"Yeah, I think that she's just a little freaked out. Where are we going?" he asks suspiciously. The guard narrows his eyes at Jace, but answers all the same.

"We're going to the Hotel Du Louvre." He states plainly, before looking out of his window.

About twenty minutes later, we arrive at the hotel. It is very beautiful, and is huge. The balconies of the rooms are all decorated in lights, and the structure design is very intricate. The guards lead us into the hotel, and then walk us towards the front desk.

"Bonjour. Comment puis-je vous aider?" _(Hello. How may I help you?)_ the man at the front desk asks us politely. The guards look lost, so I decide to step up and help them out. I lean towards the nearest guard.

"What are we here for?" I whisper. He looks startled for a moment, before a look of understanding crosses his features.

"We are here under a reservation for 'Starkweather'." He says unevenly. I nod and then look back towards the man at the front desk.

"Nous avons une reserve en vertu 'Starkweather'." _(We have a reservation under 'Starkweather'.) _I tell him. He smiles politely, nods, and then starts typing away at his computer. We wait for about a minute before he looks back up at us.

"Votre reservation est pour la Suite Imperiale." _(Your reservation is for the Imperial Suite.)_ He states with a kind smile, before handing the guards a room key. I smile gratefully at the man.

"Merci." _(Thank you.)_ I say to him. He nods at me, and then goes back to typing on his computer. The guards drag Jace and I towards the elevator, and shove us inside. _Okay, so they led us, but they might have as well done that._ When the elevator dings, we step out onto the top floor. There is only one door, and it is at the end of a small hallway. The guards lead us there, unlock the door, and usher us inside. The only word to describe it is, beautiful. There is a chandelier hanging in the entryway, and a huge living room. We are led towards a bedroom, and they un-cuff us before closing the door. Jace immediately brings me into a hug, and leads us towards the bed. _Not for that you perverts. _He sits down on the edge, and gathers me onto his lap. We sit there silently; me on his lap, him hugging me to his body tightly. I rest my head in the crook of his neck, and he kisses the top of my head. We probably just sit there like that for ten minutes, before I finally get the nerve to speak.

"What are we going to do?" I ask miserably. He squeezes me tighter to him, and then looks deeply into my eyes.

"I think that I may have a plan, but it will include scaling the hotel." He says sheepishly. A new spark of hope bursts from within me, and I jump off of his lap. I run over to the closet, and start searching for a change of clothing. Luckily for us, the hotel put extra clothes in the closet already. I furrow my eyebrows, and look closer. The clothing is in my exact size, and there are some in Jace's too. I suspiciously pull out a black t-shirt, and hold it up to my frame. _Perfect._ It will fit perfectly. I am a little creeped out, so I turn towards Jace. He looks at me questionably, and then walks over to me. I stare up into his eyes intently.

"Why in the _fucking hell_, do they know our sizes?" I ask frantically. He looks at me with concern, before looking in the closet. He walks in and disappears, only to come out a minute later in a new pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. He poses, oblivious to my freaked-out state. He suddenly sobers up.

"Rossa, they probably got a request from Hodge. He most likely paid someone to put them here. It's okay." He says, gathering me into his arms. _He is really good at calming me down_, I think. "Go get dressed, and then we'll leave." He mumbles into my hair. I nod slightly, and then head into the large walk-in closet. I pull on a pair of skinny jeans and the black t-shirt that I was holding, and walk back out.

Jace is walking around the large room, breaking off things and putting them into his pockets. I take this time to examine the room. It is dark-red and gold. Red bedspread, gold curtains, and red painted walls. I walk over to the vanity, and find a brush. I comb my wild curls into a long braid down the side of my head, and then I walk over to Jace. He is seated at a desk, and is ransacking it. He is stuffing a letter opener into his pocket and his gun into the inside of his boot. He pulls down his pants so that they cover the gun, and then looks up at me. He smiles an exited smile, and then reaches into the desk for something. He hands me a towel. I look at his questioningly, but he just nods at it. I unfold it to find a 9mm. my eyes widen, and then I look up at him.

"Another one?! You stole another one?" I say while smiling hugely. He nods with a smile of his own, before he leads me over to the balcony. I tuck the gun into my jeans, and follow him. He opens the door, and points up.

"We're on the top level, so all that we have to do is climb to the top and find the fire escape." He states while trying to find his footing. I follow after he starts climbing, and soon we are on the top of the hotel. We walk swiftly towards the door that leads downstairs, and just as we reach it do we hear yelling coming from the open balcony doors.

"They're gone! Search for them quickly. Starkweather will have our heads if he finds out that his hostages escaped." Exclaims a frantic voice from the room that we were just in. Jace and I exchange a glance that says, _'Not our problem.'_, and then continue going down the fire escape.

It turns out that either we're really out of shape, or these stairs just hate us, because we are exhausted by the time we reach the bottom. Jace and I briskly make our way through the entrance of the hotel, and start running towards somewhere to hide. We soon come upon a small coffee shop, and we slip inside. Jace leads us towards the counter, and then looks around suspiciously. I clear my throat, and the lady at the counter looks up.

"Bonjour. Que pius-je faire pour vous?" _(Hello. What can I get for you?) _she asks kindly.

"Vous arrive d'avoir un telephone?" _(Would you happen to have a phone?) _I ask her hopefully. She nods her head.

"Oui, je le fais. Juste la." _ (Yes, I do. Right over there.) _she points to a phone by the counter. I smile gratefully at her.

"Merci." _(Thank you.)_ I say kindly, pulling Jace towards the phone. She nods her head to me.

"Soyez le bienvenu." _(You're welcome.) _she says back to me, before helping other costumers. I pick up the phone, and call Headquarters through their worldwide number. The lady picks up on the first ring.

"Hello?" says a bored voice through the phone.

"Can you please connect me to the New York Headquarters?" I ask hurriedly. You never know when Hodge's men could find us.

"Yes, just wait one moment please." She says before music starts playing in the background. I wait for about a minute, before a click, and then Maryse starts talking.

"Hello?" she asks warily. I sigh with relief.

"Maryse, it's me. Clary." I say quickly. Jace plants a quick kiss on the top of my head, and gestures that he is going to the restroom. I nod, and then Maryse speaks up.

"Clary?! Where are you, dear?" she asks hopefully.

"Jace and I are in Paris. We need some money so that we can come home." I state. I hear her suck in a breath.

"Paris? Why are you in Paris? You know what, nevermind. I'll alert the Paris Institute that you will be coming, and they will send you home immediately." She gives me directions, and then we both hang up. Jace comes out of the bathroom, and follows me out of the coffee shop.

"What did she say?" he asks curiously. I smile at him, and pull him faster down the sidewalk.

"She is going to tell the Paris Institute to send us home. All that we have to do is go there." I say excitedly. He smiles at me, and then we start running towards the Paris Institute.

**Time Jump**

We walk up the steps of the church, and show our badges to the camera. It looks almost identical to the Institute in New York, so it was easy to find. The doors open, and we walk into the foyer. A lady with gray hair and dull green eyes meets us at the entryway.

"Hello, I'm Elodie Verlac. You must be the agents who are going back to New York." She states. Her name sounds familiar, but I can't seem to place it anywhere. Jace seems to have though, because he looks at her sharply.

"Are you by any chance related to Sebastian Verlac?" he asks suspiciously. _So that's where it's from. _She nods.

"Yes. My nephew and his cousin are in New York right now actually." She states while leading us towards an elevator. We step inside, and she pushed a button that says 'roof'. Jace and I stand close together until it dings. Elodie ushers us out, and we walk onto the large roof.

"So they're agents?" he asks incredulously. She vigorously nods, and then starts towards a large jet.

"They're under-cover over there to help out with the Starkweather case. I thought that you knew that." She states while leading us onto the jet. It is still dark outside, and I catch a glimpse of the time from a clock on the jet, and it is almost 3:00 a.m. Elodie tells the pilot that we're ready, and then walks back to us.

"Have a safe flight." She says, and then walks off of the jet. Jace and I find a seat near the middle of the jet, and settle down for the ride. Jace pulls me towards him, and I lean my head against his shoulder. I suddenly realize how tired I am, and close my eyes. I am vaguely aware of Jace kissing my forehead.

"Go to sleep. We'll be home before you know it." He whispers soothingly, and I do just that. Just before I let the darkness swallow me, I swear I hear him mutter, '_je'tiame', _but it was most likely just my overtired brain.

**Tada! So, here's another chapter. Enjoy!**

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	12. going home

_Clary POV_

I open my eyes, to find Jace sound asleep next to me. His eyes are closed, and I am pressed against his chest. I smile softly at how adorable he is. His long, blonde lashes brush his cheeks, and he instinctively tightens his hold on me. Somehow I managed to basically climb on top of him while I was asleep, but he doesn't seem to mind. If anything, he is enjoying it because he has the faintest smile ghosting over his lips. I reach up, and run my fingers across his jawline. He looks years younger when he is asleep. There are no stress lines on his forehead and he looks innocent. _He's perfect, _I think. I gently remove myself from him and kiss his forehead, before going to the bathroom. I close the door, and try to sort out my mess of hair.

After I have done that, I remember my back. Now that I think of it, I can't feel anything. I furrow my eyebrows and start lifting up my t-shirt. I turn towards the mirror, and gasp. My back is completely healed. Seven long scars mark my skin, but other than that, I can feel no pain. I hesitantly reach a hand back there, and run my fingertips along the scars. Just thinking about how they got there brings tears to my eyes, but I blink them away. _There are more important things to worry about right now, other than your scars, _I chastise myself. I try to think about how this is possible, but I can't come up with anything. _Do I suddenly have 'super-healing-powers'? _No. _Did one of Hodge's men inject me with something? _Not that I'm aware of. I sit there thinking for about 30 minutes, before it goes off like a light-bulb.

"_I am almost positive that they were a dry version of morphine. Maybe something else. I don't really know. The guard just said that they would help with the pain."_ Jace had said. Maybe they were something else?

I am suddenly brought out of my thoughts, by a knock on the door. I pull my shirt back on, make sure that I look some-what sane, and then open the door. Jace stands there, looking worried.

"Are you alright, Rossa?" he asks softly. I swallow, before pulling him into the bathroom, and shutting and locking the door. He looks startled at my forwardness, and looks at me in concern. "What's going on?" he asks seriously. I stare into his eyes for a moment, before I start pulling up my shirt. He makes a protesting noise, but I silence him with a glare.

"My back. Look at my back." I order him. He hesitantly walks around me, and then sucks in a deep breath. He gently presses his fingertips to a scar that is on my shoulder blade, and I suck in a surprised breath at the shock his touch causes. I swallow down the urge to shiver, and look over my shoulder at him. He traces the scar, before meeting my eyes.

"Wh-. How-?" he stutters, completely stupefied. I shrug, and then turn around so that I'm facing him.

"I don't know. I think that it had something to do with those pills that you gave me. The ones that the guard said were for the 'pain'." I say unsurely. He furrows his brows for a moment, and then a spark seems to light up his eyes.

"Oh my God. I can't believe that I didn't see it earlier." He exclaims. Noticing my confused look, he says, "You were running, scaling buildings. Rossa, I should've known earlier. That's most likely why you weren't in any pain." I nod.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. What do you think was in the pills?" I ask curiously. He shrugs, and then rests his forehead against mine.

"I don't know. We'll find out though." He promises. I smile a little, and then direct my gaze down to his lips. _I really want to kiss those bad boys, _I think, only to immediately scold myself for thinking provocative thoughts while he is in the room.

As if sensing my thought, he leans down and presses his lips to mine. I immediately kiss him back, and then reach my hands up to intertwine them into his hair. He wraps his arms around my waist, and slowly moves one of them up the length of my body. His tongue runs over me bottom lip, and I grant him access without hesitation. Our tongues interlock, and we both hum at the contact. His hand reaches my hair, and gently tugs on it. I inaudibly groan, and return the favor. I hadn't realized that we had been walking backwards, until my back hits the countertop. Jace lifts me up by my hips, and sets me on the counter, all while still kissing me deeply. I wrap my thighs around his waist, and pull him towards me. He rests his hands on my hips, and squeezes them gently. I run my tongue over the roof of his mouth, eliciting a low growl from his throat. He kisses me harder, and soon the kiss is anything but innocent. He slowly caresses the bare skin on my hip above my jeans, while I run my hand down his chest. He starts to move his hand up higher and runs his thumb across the side of my ribcage. My hand finds the hem of his shirt, and dives underneath. I slowly run the palm of my hand up his hard stomach, and gently run my nails down his abs. He makes a noise close to an animalistic growl this time and I smirk against his hungry lips, pleased that I can make him react that way. I start working on his shirt, but right as I am about to take it off, a knock sounds on the door. We both pull away, look at each other with wide eyes, and then quickly jump apart from each other. I swiftly pull on my shirt and smooth my hair down, while Jace is trying to calm down his breathing. Once we have calmed ourselves down, Jace opens the door. An older lady is standing there with an annoyed look on her face.

"When you are done, the pilot says that we have to stop in London to refuel and change aircraft. We will need a larger plane to cross the ocean with." She states in a French accent. With that, she turns around and leaves. Jace and I look at each other, and simultaneously burst into laughter.

**Time Jump**

I walk down the ramp that leads to the ground, and Jace is right behind me. The pilot landed our Jet at the London Institute, to switch aircraft, about five minutes ago. He told us to go walk around the city for about an hour, because he will have to put fuel into the tank of the new jet. When I am safely on the ground, Jace grabs my hand and leads us towards the exit. We eventually are on the sidewalk, and just start roaming all over the city. I find a nice-looking coffee shop, and we find a seat in a booth there. Jace and I are sharing one side of the booth, so I lean my head onto his shoulder. He wraps his arm around me, and pulls me to him.

"What do you want to do?" he asks me softly. I am silent for a moment, before I finally speak.

"I don't know. What is there to do in London?" I ask him. He smiles wickedly, and nudges me out of the booth.

"C'mon. I want to show you something." He states, before dragging me down the street towards a large apartment building. He picks the lock on the door, and continues to drag me to the elevator. Once we're inside, I look at him in exasperation.

"Why are we here, Giallo?" I ask curiously. The elevator dings before he can answer me, and then he drags me towards an apartment.

"Watch my back will you?" he asks, and then without giving me time to reply, starts picking the lock on the door. I roll my eyes, but do as he asked. Soon enough, the door is open and Jace pulls me inside, shutting the door softly.

The apartment is extremely large. The couches are black, and the walls are white. I walk over to inspect some of the items in the room, and Jace wonders off into one of the bedrooms. I look around and spot a picture frame on the coffee table. In the frame, are Will, Jem, and Tessa. _Oh, so we just broke into Will's apartment. That's why Jace was so excited to get here. _As I am looking through the pictures, I hear a low growl. I spin around, and come face to face with a huge gray cat. It is glaring at me, and I start to panic.

"Jace! There's a fucking cat in here!" I yell. He comes running out of the bedroom, and sees the cat. A huge smile crosses his features, and he squats down to pet the cat.

"Church! I totally forgot about you." He exclaims. I look at his back, and notice that he has a black back-pack slung over one of his shoulders. I raise an eyebrow at him.

"What's in the bag?" I ask curiously. Jace stands up again, and tosses the bag at me.

"I just thought that we could use some things. Y'know, cash, weapons, blackmail." He says nonchalantly, while going back to petting Church. I open the bag, and start giggling. Inside of the bag are six huge wads of cash, three 9mm handguns, and a picture-frame with a picture of Will when he was a baby. He is naked and has bubbles all over him. Jace grins at me, and I hand the bag back to him.

"Why do you have so much money?" I ask suspiciously. He shrugs while standing up again.

"No reason. I just figured that if we're here, why not?" he says while walking towards the door. "Besides, Will owes me, so now I figured that we're even." He adds, causing me to giggle. I quickly follow after him, and in no time are we walking away from the apartment.

We walk towards the London Institute while enjoying ach others silence. When we get there, we start walking towards the runway, and notice that the pilot is sitting outside of the jet and is on the phone with someone.

"Yes….No….. Yes, of course, Maryse…Yes, we will get them home as soon as possible….In fact, we are leaving right now….Yes, you too. Goodbye." He hangs up, and then turns towards us. "C'mon guys. We've got to get going. Maryse will have my head, if we don't hurry up." He states while ushering us inside of the jet. I look closer, and realize that he looks a lot like Alec.

"Would you, by any chance, be related to Alec Lightwood?" I ask curiously. He smiles at me, and then bows.

"Yes, ma'am. Gabriel Lightwood, at your service." He says politely, and then grabs my hand, and kisses the back of it. He lets go, and then retreats towards the controls. Jace and I find a seat, and I notce that he is being abnormally quiet.

"What's wrong?" I ask concernedly. His scowl falters, but remains all the same.

"I'mjealous." He mutters quietly, but I hear him anyway. I chuckle, and press a kiss to his lips.

"There's no need to be jealous. I only have eyes for you." I say sincerely, but add a cheeky grin at the end, just for good measure. He seems to believe me though, because he pulls me onto his lap, and proceeds to smash his lips onto mine. This kiss isn't fast or hard, but soft and lovingly. Not like when we were in the other jet's bathroom, but simple and delicate, saying all of the things that you can't put into words. He pulls back a little, and rests his forehead against mine.

"When we get home, I have something to tell you." He randomly blurts out. I furrow my brows.

"Why not just say it now?" I ask curiously. He smiles a little bit, and looks deeply into my eyes.

"Because I need to work up the nerve to say it." He states simply, before releasing me and letting me sit back in my seat. I nod, and suddenly have a thought. _I love you. _I blink a couple of times to see if I just imagined that, or if I actually thought that. _I love you. _I bite my lip to contain a smile, and look him in the eyes again.

"I have something to tell you too, when we get home." I say mysteriously, before looking out of my window as we take off.

**Time Jump**

When we arrive in New York, all that I can think is, 'Jon, Oli. I'm home!'. I seriously never thought about it, but I don't think that I could survive without Jon. The plane comes to a stop, and I have to drag Jace off of the plane. We are at the airport because the New York Institute isn't large enough, so we get a taxi, and head straight there. As soon as the taxi-guy is paid, Jace and I run up the steps to the Institute, and hurry inside. Standing in the foyer, are Jon, Izzy, Alec, Will, Tessa, Jem, Simon, Magnus, Jordan, Maia, Maryse, Celine, Robert, Imogen, Director Herondale, and Max. I sprint towards Jon, and death grip onto him. He hugs me back, and spins me around. I bury my face into his shoulder, and he hides his face in my hair.

"I'm so glad that you're okay. We didn't know what had happened until you called us. I was so worried." He rambles on, and by the emotion in his voice, I can tell that he wants to cry, but is holding it together for me. I squeeze him tighter, and we just sit there hugging for a long time. When I finally let him go, I notice that my cheeks are wet. I wipe them off with the back of my hand, and smile hugely at my brother. He grins back and ruffles my already messy hair. I swat his hand away, and turn towards the others. Jace is being embraced by his mother, and she has tears streaming down her face. I catch sight of a clock, and it says that it is 2:00am here. My eyes widen, and then I look around the room again. Everybody is yawning and barely on their feet, so I walk over to the Director.

"Sir, can we explain what happened tomorrow? Everyone is exhausted." I ask tiredly. The Director nods, and then whistles so that everyone is looking at him.

"We will go over this situation tomorrow. Go home and get some rest." He orders, and then people start dispersing after they come and give me and Jace hugs. I say goodbye to everyone, and start walking towards Jon's bike, since mine is at my house. Just as I'm about to climb on, I hear someone calling my name. I look over, and see that Jace is running towards me. I wave at Jon, to tell him to wait by the bike, and turn towards Jace. He brings me towards him, and smashes his lips with mine. I immediately kiss him back, but pull away before it can get too heated. Jon is only 15 feet away. He smile softly at me, and leans down to whisper in my ear.

"I'll tell you what I needed to tomorrow." With that he kisses my cheek, and retreats back into the institute. I smile madly, and urn towards Jon. He is smirking at me and his eyes practically scream, 'I told you so'. I roll my eyes at him, and then hop on the bike with him.

When we get home, I find Oli and run up to my room. He lies down on top of my bed, and I lay next to him. I instantly let my exhaustion take over, and let my eyes flutter shut. I am vaguely aware of Jon coming into my room and kissing me on the forehead, before I let the darkness overcome me. The only thing that I dream about is golden eyes, and whispered '_I love you'_s.

**Sorry, this chapter is really short. I'll make a longer chapter next. Enjoy!**

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	13. briefing

_Clary POV_

I vaguely feel a slight pressure on my cheek, successfully waking me up from my sleep induced paradise. I let my eyelids flutter open, and come face to face with Oli. He immediately pounces on me as soon as he sees that I'm awake, and I have to laugh at his eagerness. He licks me all over my face and neck, and I have to sit up in order to get him off of me. I stand up in a fit of giggles, and start towards the bathroom. Oli has gotten into a habit of waking up Jon, so he took it upon himself to wake me up also. He has been getting bigger, and I was only gone for a couple of days.

I walk into the bathroom and turn on the shower. I was too tired to shower last night, so now I am going to take a very long one. I strip down out of my clothes, and hop into the steam. As I'm washing my hair, I take time to go over what I have to do today.

Jon and I have to meet everybody down at Headquarters to discuss what happened with Hodge. Jace and I have to explain what happened; how we escaped and tell the Agency about the 'magic-healing pills'. I still don't understand what they consist of, but the Agency will most likely know. I still can't believe that he took us to Paris. He could've just killed us, but he didn't. What baffles me, is that he tried out his 'special' pills on me. _He's_ the one who whipped _me._ I mean, he should've just killed us. It would have been a lot easier for him._ Maybe he just needed someone to experiment on?_ I really don't know the answer to that. He really confuses me, but he is a psychopath, so he most likely thinks like a crazy person. I never claimed to be sane, but he is the definition of insane.

I am startled out of my internal dialog by the water becoming cold. I quickly finish showering, and then get out of the shower. I wrap a towel around myself, and walk out of the bathroom. I quickly change into a pair of skinny jeans, a dark gray t-shirt, and my combat boots. I lazily braid my hair down the side of my head, and then I walk downstairs to feed Oli. I grab the bag of dog-food, fill up his bowl, and then start making myself breakfast.

As I'm making pancakes, Jon runs down the stairs. He quickly walks over to where I am by the stove, and hugs me. It takes me by surprise for a moment, but I eventually hug him back. He squeezes me so tight, that I'm afraid that he'll fracture something.

"Jon, are you okay?" I ask somewhat warily. It's not like he doesn't usually hug me every morning, but today he hugs me for a really long time. He eventually lets me go, and sits at the counter.

"Yeah," his voice catches, so he clears his throat and starts again. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just really missed you. I was really worried, that's all." He finishes in a voice that nearly breaks my heart. Jon doesn't usually get all emotional on me, so I know that he's sincere. I smile at him softly, before turning back around to face the stove.

"I missed you too." I state. I finish making the pancakes, and dish them onto two plates. I hand Jon his, and sit next to him.

"I literally would've died if you hadn't come back." He starts, while eating huge mouthfuls of food. "The Agency searched everywhere for you guys. Jace's parents, Celine and Director Herodale, they went ballistic. They tried to convince the Agency to let the send a team into Hodge's mansion, but they said that it was too dangerous." He pauses, and smiles faintly. "Everybody was going to sneak into the mansion tonight, if we didn't hear from you guys. Let alone, if we had known that he took you to Paris, I mean, I don't actually know what they would've done. I think that this is the first meal I have willingly eaten, since you got captured, without Izzy having to threaten my 'personal' areas." He finishes with a pained laugh. I furrow my brows, and look down at my plate. I'm suddenly not hungry, so I get up, and put our plates into the dishwasher. He gets up, and comes to stand by me. "Clare, you have to answer me," he pauses, and takes a deep breath. "Did. He. Hurt. You?" He asks sternly. I swallow thickly, and turn around. I slowly pull up my t-shirt, and hear him inhale sharply.

"He, um, whipped me?" I say as more of a question. I turn back around, and see that Jon has gone deathly pale.

"He actually hurt you again?" he asks in a broken whisper. His eyes shine with mixed emotions; regret, guilt, anger, hatred, and disbelief. I hesitantly nod, and he gathers me into his arms again. He just holds me for a moment, before he pulls back and holds me at arms-length. He looks at me confusedly. "How are they already healed? You were only gone for a few days?" he asks incredulously. I take a deep breath and separate myself from him.

"One of his guards gave me these pills, I don't actually know what they were. Jace and I thought that they were pain medication. They healed my back, completely, within 24 hours." I state. Jon looks even more confused, but nods along to my words.

"So, what you're saying, is that he has, somehow, invented pills that heal wounds?" he asks uncertainly. I nod vigorously, and start walking towards the front door. Jon quickly follows, and we walk to our bikes. I hop on mine, and Jon soon follows.

"Look, Jace and I will explain everything when everyone is there. The story is too complex to repeat multiple times." I state. He nods, and then we set off for Headquarters.

**Time Jump**

We are all seated in the Director's office, and Jace and I are sitting at the front of the room. He has his hand in mine and is rubbing slow circles into the back of it. I subtly glance over at Izzy, and she is making very immature gestures at the two of us. She makes a heart with her hands, and wiggles her eyebrows at me. I roll my eyes, and flip her off. The Director hasn't started the meeting yet, so it's alright for me to openly flip her the bird. I see Jace stifle a laugh out of the corner of my eye, and nudge his side with my elbow. He nudges me back, and Director Herondale suddenly starts to speak.

"Hello, everyone. I don't actually know what happened with Starkweather, so I am going to give Agents Fray and Herondale the floor." He says while raising an eyebrow towards us. We give him a single nod, and he sits down. Jace and I glance at each other, and he decides to speak first.

"So, as you all know, we were captured on our last mission. We were thrown into a dungeon basically, and kept there for at least 8 hours. It was completely dark, so neither Clary or myself could make out the door. We were also chained up to a wall, so, we had our disadvantages." He stops, looks around the room, catches my eye, and then continues. "After sitting around for hours, one of his guards, Pangborn, came down and collected us. He took us up to an extremely large library, and that's where Hodge came in." he says, catching my eye at the very end in a silent question. I nod, and start speaking.

"Hodge basically asked us our names, and beat the shit out of me in order to get them might I add, and then sent us to another room. It was most likely a guest bedroom somewhere in the mansion. I was basically un-functional because of the pain that I was in, so one of his guards gave me some pills." I turn around and hesitantly lift up my shirt, showing my scars. A collective gasps sound through the room, so I pull my shirt down hastily and turn back around. "Those were newly made from a whip, but after I took the pills, all of the pain went away within 24 hours. Jace and I never figured out what they consisted of, but we figured that the Agency did." I finish, looking towards Maryse and Director Herondale. They share a meaningful look, and then Maryse stands up and moves to the front of the room.

"Yes, we do know what the pills are. Starkweather has been 'experimenting' on children, under the age of 18, for about eight years now. The Agency was so close to finding out the formula seven years ago, but our agents were killed." Noticing our looks, she smiles at me and Jon in sympathy. "Yes, I do mean your parents. He is trying to make a way to be invincible, basically. He is testing his pills out on children, because they have a stronger chance of survival. We have discovered that he tested his last batch out on Maureen, before he killed her. She had recently been diagnosed with cancer, so she went to him for help. He was already tutoring her, so she most likely knew of what he was planning. He gave her pills, and she sent some of them back to the Agency. We tested them out, and found out that it is basically an altered version of morphine. He mixed illegal substances with the morphine, and it basically heals any wound or sickness." noticing my look of horror, she says, "When I said 'illegal substances', I meant acids and powders from around the world. Not drugs." She quickly amends. I relax into Jace's side again, and try to focus on the information that she is giving. "The Agency doesn't know much else, except that he has perfected the formula, and can heal almost any non-fatal wound out there." She says solemnly. "Now, that I have cleared that up, please proceed with the story, Agents." She quietly seats herself again, and then Jace speaks up.

"After Clary got the pills, he had us forced onto a private jet, and took us to Paris. There, we were brought to the Hotel Du Louvre and locked in a bedroom. We basically scaled the building, and escaped through the fire escape, and found a phone in a near-by coffee shop. Then, we went to the Paris Institute, flew to London, and then we came home." He finishes, slightly out of breath. He furrows his brows for a moment, and then seems to perk up. "Oh! And we found out that Sebastian Verlac and Aline Penhallow, are agents. Their aunt, Elodie Verlac, lives at the Paris Institute." He says as an afterthought. Everybody is staring at him like he is crazy, but seem to snap out of it when the Director stands up from his seat.

"Okay, everyone. Maryse and I will take this information to the Agency, and then we will meet later to finish discussing this matter." He says tiredly. "You are dismissed until further notice." He says, and we all nod and exit his office. When we are in the foyer, we all sit decide to meet at Taki's.

**Time Jump**

I get off of my bike, and walk into the restaurant. Our group has already gotten a large booth, so I decide to slide in next to Jace. He smiles at me, and kisses me quickly. All twelve of us are here, and it is kind of tight, so Will, Jem, and Tessa all decide to bring another table off of the end of the booth. We all get situated, and then I see our waitress coming in our direction. _Kaelie._ _This'll be even more fun than last time, _I think. When she sees us though, she goes up to another waitress and asks her to take our table. _Aw, you ruin everything, _thinks my inner pouting two-year-old. The new waitress takes all of our orders, and then leaves us to talk amongst ourselves. Everyone immediately looks towards Jace and I, and I quickly get annoyed.

"What?" I ask incredulously, after they have been staring at us expectantly for about a minute. They all raise their eyebrows at me, but Izzy is the one who decides to speak.

"What's up with you two?" she asks curiously. I look to Jace, who is as speechless as I am, and shrug.

"We're dating?" I say in a question. Jace nods confidently, and smiles hugely at me.

"Yup, we're dating." He confirms. Izzy starts babbling about our wedding and what to name our children, and I give Jon a pointed look that says, 'I told you that she would react like this'. He just smirks at me, and calms Izzy down by kissing her cheek. I len into Jace's side, and he kisses my hair. The waitress eventually comes back with our orders, and we all dig in. Nobody talks for a while, until Jordan decides to be a douche.

"So, have the two of you screwed yet?" he asks mock-seriously. My eyes widen and I frantically look to Jace, who looks as bewildered as I am.

"N-no! we literally haven't even been on a real date yet!" Jace exclaims hurriedly. I nod vigorously in agreement, but no one seems to notice us, because they are all roaring with laughter.

"Y-you should have seen your faces!" Maia exclaims, while making a mock-terrorized face. They all start laughing harder, and Jace and I exchange an annoyed glance. Suddenly he smirks, and pulls my face towards his.

"Give 'em a show." He whispers faintly into my ear, before smashing his lips onto mine. I slowly wrap my arms around his neck, and he brings his hands to tangle into my hair. The laughter slowly dies out, as Jace enters his tongue into my mouth. I can practically feel his evil smirk through the kiss, and I am fighting the urge to burst out laughing. He slowly caresses my tongue with his, and that's all that we hear before Jon coughs loudly. I slowly detach myself from him, and turn to face Jon. He is scowling fiercely at me, and sending death threats to Jace through his eyes. I look around at the rest of our table, and find ten disgusted faces gawking back. Jace and I simultaneously burst out laughing, and go back to eating our meals nonchalantly. I catch Jon's eye, and wink at him, causing him to stifle a smile. Jordan, although disgusted at our display, smirks at Jace from the corner of my eye.

"Well, I guess that answers my other question." He states casually. Noticing our confused looks, he smiles innocently. "You two may not have screwed, but you definitely want to." He says, as innocently as his smile. Everyone starts laughing again. I quickly flip him off, before returning to my meal. He notices, and smirks at me. "Oh, no. You want to do that to _Jace. _Not _Jordan._" He says to me, like I'm a five-year-old. I roll my eyes at myself internally, _Why didn't you think that over, Idiot?_ Outwardly though, I only stick my tongue out at him, like the mature 16-year-old that I am, and go back to eating my food. Jace grabs my hand underneath the table, and squeezes reassuringly. I return the pressure, and avoid eye contact with everyone at the table, except for Jace.

We all finish our meals in silence, save for some mild bantering, and then head back to Headquarters. _We are going to have to figure out what to do about the Hodge situation sooner or later, so we might as well get it over with._

**Time Jump**

I walk through the front doors with Jace by my side. We make our way to the meeting room, and take a seat at the back of the large table. Everyone is there, and we are all conversing quietly amongst ourselves. The Director finally silences everybody, and starts briefing us on our next mission.

"Agents, we have come to the conclusion that you will be sent into the heart of our investigation. Starkweather has recently returned from his over-seas trip, and is presently residing in his mansion. He has increased his security numbers by hundreds. More guards than ever are securing his property, and it is going to be one of the most difficult missions yet to break in. As you know, we retrieved the hard-drive on your last mission, and we have enough evidence to put Starkweather behind bars for good. The only problem with doing that immediately, is that Agents Fray and Herondale have brought to the Agency's attention that he has perfected his formula. We have decided to name it D-9189. The formula includes deadly acidic powders in it, and can easily kill anyone who overdoses on them. Starkweather has made a deal with a European production company, and they are planning to start selling the product within the start of the New Year. That means that we only have four months to shut down the operation, put Starkweather behind bars, and destroy all remains of the formula. He has moved the formula to a new location while he was in Paris, so we don't have enough information to confirm its whereabouts. The Paris Institute, has agreed to house the twelve of you for your next assignment." He pauses, slightly out of breath, and looks around the room. "You will be sent to Paris, along with two other agents, and will take down his operation from there. The formula needs to be completely destroyed, so you will have to go under-cover and actually have to handle it. The Agency has already gotten, those of you that are field agents, jobs at the production company. You will infiltrate the system, stop production of the hazardous product, and destroy the D-9189 formula. Meanwhile, the Agency is going to keep Starkweather and his men busy. We are going to take his case to court, and he will be confined in the United States for the duration of the trial. Even he can't bribe his way out of the country." He passes out files to each of us. "These are your assignments. You will all leave in two days, along with the other two agents, and will start your mission once you lay foot on the Parisian soil. This mission could end it all for good, but be extremely careful. The security systems there are very high-tech." he clears his throat. "Now that you have been briefed of the mission, do you accept it?" he asks us all. We all glance at each other, making sure of the confirmation. This mission could be life or death, so we all have to agree to make it work. After about a minute of silence, we all nod our heads.

"Yes, sir." We all chime in in unison. The Director nods, pleased with our decision.

"Wonderful, you are dismissed. Report back to Headquarters in two days, with your luggage, and we will see you off." He says, with a slight smile on his face, before ushering us out of the meeting room.

I make my way to my bike with Jace. When we are in the parking lot, he suddenly stops, pulling me to a stop with him. He smile secretly at me, before tugging my arm towards his car. I furrow my brows, but follow anyway.

"Where are we going?" I ask curiously. He grins at me.

"I still have to tell you that thing, and you have to tell me yours, so I figured that we could tell each other while going out for a date." He says nonchalantly, but I can see the excitement coursing through his eyes. He opens the passenger door to his car, and helps me inside.

"Alright, but if you're driving me out to the woods to murder me, I know kung-fu." I say teasingly. He just grins wider at me, closes the door, and then walks around to the driver's side. After he is all situated in his seat, he grabs my hand and turns towards me.

"I don't doubt your 'kung-fu mastery' for a second. Sadly though, you won't have to use them on me tonight. We're just going to have a normal mundane date, and be cheesy together." He says with a broad smile. "Sound good?" he asks, while pulling the car out of the parking lot of the Institute. I smile widely back at him and nod.

"Sound great." I confirm, before looking out of my window. I subtly sneak a glance at him every so often, and think, '_I love you'._ Maybe I'll tell him tonight. _Who knows?_

**So, there's another chapter. Enjoy! **

**I might put the next chapter in Jace's POV, I really don't know.**

**Sorry for the late upload. School is still kicking my ass.**

**Thanks for all of the positive feedback. :)**

**Review&Follow**


	14. Garden of Dreams

_Clary POV_

Jace drives us for about 15 minutes, and then pulls over at a small building. It looks like a piece of art in itself. The windows all have marble carvings on them, the door is a huge, polished oak slab, the path that leads up to the door is lined with roses of all sorts, and the structure has all kinds of ivy vines growing straight up it. I look around in wonder and face Jace, who is watching my reaction amusedly.

"What is this place?" I ask, amazed. He chuckles.

"If you think that the outside is great, just wait until we get inside." He comments before leading me up the stairs towards the door. "This is the Jardin de Reves, the Garden of Dreams. My father built this place for me when I was little." He pauses to open the door with a large key. "The structure was built on a dream really. My father said that he had a strange dream one night, while I was still a baby, and it led to him building me my own garden." He explains, while ushering me inside.

On the inside, it has a narrow staircase that leads to another door. Jace opens the door, and I gasp at the sight in front of me. The large room is a dome. Its walls are twenty feet tall, covered all the way to the top in greenery and vines, and made of marble. I slowly turn in amazement. Thousands of types of flowers litter the ground, and you have to carefully navigate yourself through the thick. I turn to Jace in awe.

"This place is _amazing_!" I exclaim, while grabbing his hand and tugging him along. I look around the atrium with wide eyes. He chuckles happily, and leads me over to a large bench in the middle of the room. There is a large fountain in front of it, and it has a beautiful sculpture of herons on top of it. I look closer, and realize that intricate 'H's are carved into the marble. I look at Jace expectantly, and he smiles widely at me.

"The herons are for Herondale. It's part of my family's crest." He pauses, and shows me his hand, where a large ring is placed. It has a large 'H' on it and small detailed herons. I nod for him to continue, and he does. "My family is very big on tradition. That means that every son gets the family ring from their father, and if I had a sister, my mother would've given her a necklace." He reaches into his pocket, and comes out with a small black box. "The necklace could also be given to the son's love." He smiles at me nervously. "It would work the same way for the daughter I suppose, but in my case, it's just me." He hands me the box, and gestures for me to open it. "My mother gave me this when I turned 10. She said, '_If you ever fall in love, give this to the lucky girl. That way she will know that you are completely hers, and she is completely yours'_." He smiles at me, and by now I have tears in my eyes. I open the box, and there stands a small locket. It is detailed with a proud 'H' and small herons on the front. Jace grabs my hand and holds it in between the two of his. "I'm giving this to you, because I want you to be completely mine, and vise-versa. It's not a marriage proposal or anything, but more of a promise ring. It's a way of declaring to the world that you're mine, and that I'm yours. So, will you be mine?" he finishes off with a soft smile, and I nod.

"Yes." I simply state, because I'm afraid that I'll start bawling if I speak anymore. He smiles genuinely, and grabs the back of my neck and brings my lips to his. I set down the box with the necklace in it, and wrap my arms around his neck. The kiss isn't hot and heavy, but soft and loving. He gently kisses me for a few moments before drawing back, leaning his forehead against mine, and looking into my eyes.

"I love you." He whispers into the air in between us. I smile brightly up at him, and softly peck him on the lips.

"I love you too." I say, and that's all that Jace needs to hear, before crashing his mouth back on mine.

Eventually we pull apart, slightly out of breath, and he pulls me to him. I snuggle into his chest, and grab the box again. I re-open it and gingerly finger the locket. Jace notices, and chuckles deeply.

"Did you look inside of it?" he asks curiously. I slightly shake my head, and then open it up. On the inside, there are small, delicate words carved into one side of it. They say, '_I'll be yours, and you'll be mine. Forever.'_ I look up at Jace through my eyelashes and grin.

"I love it." I state factually. He smiles softly at me again, and then pulls me tighter to him.

"I'm glad. I thought that this would be too soon, but then I realized that we have always moved fast." He says, clearly relieved. "Y'know, we're like cars. Sometimes we move slow, and other times we just run through the red light and look around suspiciously to see if any cops are around." He adds as an afterthought, causing me to laugh.

"Yes, because that's what I try to be compared to as. A car." I comment through my giggles. He chuckles with me and then carefully stands up, pulling me along with him. He gently grabs the necklace out of its box, and clasps it onto my neck. "Thank you." I say, and he just smiles at me and kisses me on my forehead. He steps back away from me after a moment, and takes my hand in his.

"Well, shall we go explore?" he asks excitedly. I nod vigorously, and allow him to lead me through the flowers. We wonder through all types of flowers, and then Jace stops me at one type.

"These are called Asiatic lilies." He gently picks one of the orange-ish-red flowers, and hands it to me. "They kind of remind me of you." Noting my quizzical gaze, he continues. "They look soft on the outside, but they fight to live. You're a fighter. Even though you have been through things that most teenagers haven't, you still thrive and live. And you also have a spunky attitude to go with it, so you're like the whole deal all in one." He says seriously, but teasingly at the end. I blush at his compliment, and look closer at the lily. It is completely orange, with red and yellow stripes coming from the middle of the flower onto the petals. _It is truly beautiful_, I think. Jace then leads us along and points out different flowers along the way.

After about two hours, he takes me back to Headquarters to get my bike and I go home. I quietly walk up the steps, and make my way to my room. I collapse onto my bed, and think about today's events. _We have to go back to Paris in two days, Jace loves me, I have a necklace that claims me his, I love him, and he is possibly the best boyfriend anyone can ever ask for._ I close my eyes with a slight smile on my face and finally let my brain relax. The last thought that I think before succumbing to darkness is, '_I love you'._

**Time Jump**

I wake up to a loud beeping. Today is the day before we leave for Paris, and everyone is frantically trying to prepare. Jon and I have to meet everyone down at Headquarters at 12:00, and I have to pack before then. I glance over at my alarm clock, and see that it is 7:00, so I sleepily get out of bed. My feet hit the cold hard wood floor, and I wince. _Dammit that's cold! _I quickly make my way over to my bathroom, and hurriedly jump in the shower.

As I stand under the steady stream of water, I get lost in my thoughts. Last night I had the worst nightmare. I shake my head trying to forget the dream, but it keeps coming back to me, and I eventually let my brain recap.

_(Flashback)_

_I look towards Hodge, and my eyes widen. In his grip is Jace, unconscious and unmoving. I start towards him, but the guards that surround me hold me back. They chain my wrists behind my back, and force me to watch Jace. Hodge grabs a fistful of Jace's blonde hair, and slams his forehead into the wall. Jace awakens with a pained scream, and frantically looks around for the cause of the sudden pain. When his eyes land on Hodge, he stops struggling and starts trying to do damage. Hodge tsks and drops Jace to the ground like a rag-doll. He weakly tries to get back up on his feet, but Hodge's boot connects with his side before he can. I pull harshly at my restraints, and watch wide-eyed as Hodge pulls out a very large blade._

"_Stop! Please!" I cry desperately. Hodge doesn't even spare me a glance as he leans down towards Jace's groaning form. He runs the tip of the knife across Jace's throat, and stops it at his collarbone._

"_Why did you love? Haven't you already lost enough, little girl?" he asks me maliciously, before scoring a long cut across Jace's perfect chest. He winces, and tries to cower away to no avail. I whimper from my position across the room and keep on pulling at my chains, unknowingly cutting into my skin. Hodge moves the blade further down Jace's chest, and stops right above where his diaphragm is. He slowly makes a sawing motion, and I scream at him hysterically._

"_Stop! Please! He hasn't done anything wrong! Please, stop!" I ramble on, trying to bring his attention away from Jace. He stands up, and slowly walks towards me, only stopping a few feet away._

"_Why do you love him? Everything that you have has been destroyed because of love, and yet you still willingly give it to others. I thought that I told you, 'To love is to destroy, and to be loved is to be the one destroyed'." He carefully walks towards me, the already bloody blade pointed in my direction. "Have you learned nothing, little girl? You do not love. Love is a weakness. You could've been great, but you let love get to you. You are weak, and you disgust me." He now stands literally in my face, and the blade is skillfully placed over my jugular. "I should've just killed you all those years ago when I had the chance, but I let you live. And _this_ is how you repay me?" he blindly gestures towards Jace's form, which is now slowly getting up. He has slashes all across his abdomen and a rather large bruise on his temple. He starts towards Hodge, but the guards get him first and hold him back roughly. Hodge, oblivious to Jace, narrows his gaze upon my necklace. "What's this? Herondale? You really fell in love with a Herondale?" he mocks me incredulously. I stiffen when he rips the locket from my neck. "You won't be needing this anymore." He chuckles darkly, and then plunges the blade through my throat. The last thing that I see before everything goes black is Jace's horrified expression._

_(End of Flashback)_

I woke up after that, feeling frightened and shaky. I had clasped the necklace that Jace gave me tightly, until I fell back asleep. I smile slightly at the memory of the garden and Jace's declaration yesterday. It really still shocks me that he wanted to say the exact same thing as I did. Maybe we are meant to be. _Who knows?_

I am startled out of my thoughts, once again, by the water turning cold. _I tend to do that a lot, _I realize while wrapping myself in a towel.

After I am ready, I walk downstairs to get Oli some food. He eagerly eats while I make Jon and I some breakfast. Jon wonders downstairs at around 9:00, and I am just finishing my breakfast. He thanks me before I head upstairs, and then I get to work. I haul out my huge, black suitcase from underneath of my bed, and lay it out on the floor. I walk over to my closet, and start randomly throwing clothing into it. I pack tons of black t-shirts, skinny-jeans, jackets, and underwear. I pack my gear, an extra pair of combat boots, just in case, and my toiletries. When all of that is done, I drag my suitcase down towards the front door. Robert is going to take our luggage for us, because it won't fit on our bikes. Max is also going to be watching Oli for me. I see Jon already loading his suitcase up in Robert's truck, so I go to join him.

**Time Jump**

When I get to Headquarters, I rush through the large doors with Jon. People are rushing around madly, and some random lady ushers us quickly into the meeting room. Everybody is gathered around the large table, and is looking over what appears to be gadgets. I walk over to Jace, and kiss him on the cheek. He jumps slightly, but smiles widely when he realizes that it's just me. He pulls me back in for a quick kiss, and then turns towards Director Lightwood.

"Agents, today we will be preparing for the mission in Paris. You will have to take new equipment with you, because the Paris Institute will not be providing it. You are basically working out of the New York Headquarters, over in Paris. Nobody is to know of your mission, as always, and for those of you who are new to the Agency, the two agents from Paris will help you translate." As if on cue, the doors to the meeting room open, and Sebastian and Aline walk in, seemingly calm and collected. "Ah, Agents Verlac and Penhallow. Nice of you to join us." They nod their heads at him, and then take their seats. "So, continuing. The new equipment is already lied out on the table. We have provided new earpieces that are invisible to the naked eye, microphones that can simply stick to any surface, panic buttons that are connected to the nearest Institute, electro-magnetic fingerprints; those shock people under your command, and new fie-proof gear." He pauses, and hands each of us a large case. I set mine on the table, and look inside. There are all kinds of new things, like things that can let you breath underwater, to miniature explosives. I sneak a glance at Jace, and smile excitedly. He returns the action with full enthusiasm, before turning back to the Director. "These new weapons are absolutely crucial to the success tour mission." He pauses to pass out folders. "These folders have all of your information in them. Your name changes, your passports, where you're going to stay. All of your new personalities for this mission are written down in here. Do not lose them. Your fake identities are another crucial point to the success of this mission." He stops to take a breath, before continuing. "Now that I have briefed you on your mission, do you have any questions?" he finishes. Everyone is silent for a minute, before Sebastian raises his hand.

"Sir, are we going to have to share hotel rooms?" he asks timidly. The Director nods curtly.

"Yes. The Agency has based your fake identities on your real life relationships. We didn't want any conflicts between your real lives." He explains. Jace smiles at me smugly and grab my hands underneath of the table. I slightly squeeze his hand, and he returns the pressure gratefully. The Director looks around the room before settling his eyes on Maryse, who nods. "Okay, well I guess that that's it. Report to Headquarters at 4:30a.m tomorrow morning, and I will see you off." And with that, he waltzes out of the room, Maryse not far behind. I grab my folder and my case, and then walk out of the room with Jace.

Once we have dropped off our luggage, he walks with me to the parking lot. He stops me right before I get on, and gently grips my waist. He looks down at the locket that rests right below my collarbone, and smiles softly at me.

"I love you." He states plainly, but his eyes say so much more. I smile at him, and bring his mouth down to mine. I slowly kiss him, but he starts kissing me more urgently. I un-hesitantly comply, and soon enough we are full-on making out. I vaguely hear someone clearing their throat behind us, so I slowly pull away. Jon is standing behind Jace, arms crossed and smirk vibrant.

"Why hello, dear sister. Such a wonderful day isn't it?" he asks sarcastically, while jumping onto his bike. I roll my eyes at him, and face Jace again. He looks like he's fighting off a smile but I'll never know because I choose that very moment to quickly kiss him again. I pull away before it can go too far, and grin at him.

"I love you too." I whisper in his ear as I pull away. His eyes brighten, and he steps back so that I can get onto my bike.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Rossa." He states, and with another kiss, he starts towards his truck.

"Bye, Giallo." I call to his receding form, before pulling out of the parking lot and heading home.

Once I get Home, I gather up Oli and bring him over to Max's house. I quickly leave him there, and then go back home to sleep. _4:30 comes fast….._

**So, there's another chapter. Sorry for the late upload, **_**again. **_

**Oh, and I don't own The Mortal Instruments…. Or Jace…. Cassandra Clare does. I forgot to put that on here before.**

**Thanks for the positive feedback. :)**

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	15. taking flight

_Clary POV_

I am startled awake by a heavy mass weighing down my chest.

"Wake up, Clare." Whispers a soft, yet familiar, voice. I groan, and roll over. _Or try to at least._ The weight doesn't disappear, so I just thrash around underneath of it. "Wake up." The voice demands, a little louder. I continue trying to escape its hold, but it doesn't budge. "Alright Clare, you brought this on yourself." And with that, the weight lifts off of me completely.

I roll over towards the wall, and try to go back to sleep. Right before I am able to let the darkness take me though, I vaguely hear the sound of water splashing. _What the hell? _I sleepily let one of my eyes flutter open, only to see Jon throwing a pitcher of water over my body. I frantically try to get away from the coldness, but my attempts fail me when the water covers me from head to toe. I bolt upright, to see Jon laughing his ass off on the floor of my bedroom. I jump out of my bed, and stomp into my bathroom.

I grab a large glass from underneath of my sink, and fill it up with the coolest temperature of water possible. I quickly run back into my room, and see that Jon is still laughing on my floor. I swiftly walk over to his hysterical form, and throw the cup of water onto him. He immediately shuts up, and looks to me with wide eyes.

"What was that for?" he asks, mock-innocently. I growl, _I fucking growl,_ at him, and he looks almost frightened.

"You fucking threw water on me. _What the fuck asshole?_" I ask, outraged. He shrugs, stands up, and picks up the almost empty pitcher.

"You needed to wake up." He smiles at me, unashamed, before glancing down at the pitcher. He gets a small grin on his face, and then dumps the rest of the water on top of my head. I yelp out at the new cold, and glare at him. He quickly runs out of the room laughing, and barely misses the shoe that was aimed at his face.

I scowl on my way back into my bathroom, and quickly jump into the shower. I gloomily start washing my body, before I remember why I had to wake up at this ungodly hour in the first place. _Paris! _We're going to Paris for our mission today! _Holy shit!_ _I've got to hurry! _I quickly shower, and then get into a pair of black skinny jeans, a black t-shirt, and my leather jacket. The Director told us to dress in our street clothes to lower suspicion, since we are taking a normal plane. We have to dress up I disguises before we head to the airport, and make sure that we know our parts. I haven't even remotely looked into my folder yet, so I have absolutely no idea what part I'm playing.

I quickly make my way downstairs, and call a taxi. We are taking one, because we don't want to have to leave our bikes at the airport. Jon is seated at the table, and is eating a granola bar. I sat myself down next to him, and then stare blankly at the wall in front of me. He must notice, because he quirks an eyebrow at my strange behavior.

"What's up?" he asks warily. I shrug, and then look over at him.

"The taxi is going to be here any minute now." I state, before sighing and getting up. "C'mon, we need to be ready." And with that, I walk briskly down to the weapons room. I don't even have to glance behind me to know that Jon followed me.

I start loading weapon into hidden compartments in my clothing, and Jon follows suit. The Agency has a deal with the government, that we are allowed to bring weapons onto aircraft; we just have to go through a special security gate. I expertly slide about 20 throwing knives into the inner liner of my jacket, and then turn back to Jon. He is just finishing putting his handgun into the ankle holder, but looks up at me anyway. I smile evilly, and then run at him. He bolts upright, and then catches me before I even have a chance to tackle him. He pins me to the ground and starts tickling me, and I try to squirm my way out of underneath of him. He just holds me tighter, and continues his tickle-harassment. He eventually gets off of me, and helps me up. I gasp for breath and punch him in his arm.

"You're… an… asshole." I manage to say through my gasps of laughter. He just chuckles, and then leads me back upstairs. He walks over to the table in the kitchen, and grabs our folders. Then, he hands me mine and starts for the front door. Right as we close the door, a bright yellow taxi pulls up in front of our house. We hurriedly get into the car, and tell the cabbie our destination. Jon and I settle down in our seats, and I watch the scenery as we make our way to Headquarters.

**Time Jump**

I get out of the taxi, as Jon pays the cabbie, and make my way up to the large front door. Jon quickly catches up to me, and we show the security camera our badges. The doors open, and I see that everyone is gathered in the foyer. The Director is pacing in front of the large group, and looks to be deep in thought. I silently make my way over to Jace, who is talking to Sebastian. As I get closer, I can hear some of their conversation.

"-why didn't you tell me that you're an agent?" he questions, a look of mock-hurt plastered onto his face. Sebastian sighs.

"It wasn't part of our assignment to tell anyone. We didn't even alert the New York Institute of our being in New York. We were just supposed to keep an eye on Starkweather, but now that he's gone MIA, we were forced to take action and join your little group." He explains tiredly. Jace narrows his eyes at him, before nodding curtly. I quietly walk up behind him, and wrap my arms around his torso. He goes rigid for a moment, before realizing that it's just me, and relaxing. He turns in my hold, and wraps his arms around my waist. He gently kisses me, and then brings me to his chest.

"Hi." He mumbles quietly into my ear. I pull away slightly to kiss him chastely.

"Hi." I murmur against his lips. He smiles against mine and then closes the almost nonexistent gap between us. The kiss starts slowly, but continues to gain pace. We are interrupted by an uncomfortable cough, and I hesitantly pull away. Sebastian, Jon, Jordan, and Will are all standing behind us with wide eyes. Well mostly, Jon just looks bored.

"Are you two love birds finished yet?" he asks, seemingly uninterested. I smirk a him, and then look back at Jace.

"Not quite." I exclaim, but before I can kiss Jace again, Jon grabs my arm and pulls me to his side, away from Jace. I protest, but he sends me such a dark look, that I shut up immediately.

"Now, I'm sure that you'll have time to do _that_ elsewhere, but for now we need to be focused on getting to the airport." He says sternly, sending me and Jace reprimanding looks. I have the decency to look sheepish, while Jace just smirks at him. Jon rolls his eyes and drags me over to the rest of the group. Director Herondale looks up as we rejoin the small crowd, and then clears his throat.

"Well, now that we're all here, let us begin. Please read through your folders while on the flight. I will just go over the basics for now, and you can read through your folders for further detailing. Alright?" he looks around the room, and everybody nods their heads. "Great. So, you will all be given different names, as you know. No disguises though. Starkweather has seen Agents Fray and Herondale out of disguise, but that will not matter. You will have to avoid close-up cameras, but that should be fine. The production company is called Clave&Co. The fourteen of you already have jobs and positions waiting for you at the company. They think that you are American supervisors of Starkweather, while you will be gathering information about formula D-9189. Your fake names will be in your folders, as well as the information on your hotel and your positions in the company." He pauses to examine all of our faces. "This mission could end Starkweather for good. Be careful and do not cause any unwanted suspicions." He finishes. He looks to all of us, and then we hear a faint beeping coming from outside. "Ah, your transportation is here. The Agency has already transported your luggage, so you just have to board the plane." He says, while leading us to the door. He opens the front door of the Institute, and I see a large, white hotel shuttle waiting for us. Noticing our questioning gazes, the Director shrugs with a faint smile playing on his lips. "It's to keep down suspicion." He says, smothering a juvenile chuckle.

We all start loading onto the shuttle, but the Director stops Jace for a moment. I see their mouths moving, but I'm inside of the shuttle, so I can't hear their conversation. I see Jace nod, and then the Director does something that surprises everyone on the small-bus. He hugs Jace tightly and gives him a proud smile, before retreating back into the Institute. Jace enters the bus with a small smile on his face, and seats himself beside me. The driver puts the shuttle into gear, and takes off towards the JFK airport. It is only 5:00, so the sun has yet to rise. Jace reaches over and takes my hind in his. I lace our fingers together, and lean my head against his shoulder.

"What did he say?" I ask curiously. Jace smiles wider, remembering the conversation with his father. I sometimes forget that Director Herondale is, in fact, Jace's father. He is always so serious, but judged by the little display that I just witnessed, he loves his son very much. Jace looks down at me and squeezes my hand tighter.

"He said to be careful and all of that." He tries to be nonchalant about it, but I can see through his façade. I just stare at him, and soon he breaks out into a grin. "Okay, okay. He also might have said thathewasproudofme." He mumbles the last art, but I catch it. I smile up at him and hug him.

"He has a right to be." I state factually. He wraps his arms around me and rests his chin on top of my head.

"He also told me that I did good with you." I look up at him in surprise. He smiles softly down at me. "He said, and I quote, 'You did good with that one. She's a keeper.'" He says with a large smile plastered onto his face, and I can't help but return it. I snuggle closer into his side, and he hugs me tighter.

**Time Jump**

When we arrive at the airport, the shuttle drops us off at our gate, gate D. We all file out of the small-bus, and start towards the entrance to the airport. Jace casually takes my hand, and leads us through the airport. Our large group comes to a stop at a counter, where a serious-looking woman, with gray hair, sits. Jace smiles charmingly at her, and her expression turns to flirty. I inwardly roll my eyes. _She's like 60, you won't get anything from a 17-year-old, Pedophile. _Jace slightly cringes away from the woman, and hesitantly approaches the counter.

"Hi, we're boarding the 6:00 plane to Paris." He says politely. The lady flutters her eyelashes at him, making him step closer to me, and types something into her computer.

"Yes, are you from the Institution?" she asks, trying to be seductive. Jace seems very uncomfortable, and I have to smother a giggle into my hand. He clears his throat, and then smiles again, this time completely forced.

"Yes. Can you please hurry up? We're going to miss our flight." He says, non-politely. The lady doesn't seem to notice, but hands us our tickets and open the gate for us. We all hurry through, but the lady stops Jace and gives him a piece of paper. She winks at him, and then he practically has to drag me towards the terminal. As soon as we are out of the lady's sight, I burst into laughter.

"She gave you her number, didn't she?" I ask incredulously through my giggles. Jace glares at me, and hands me the paper.

_**Cathy**_

_**665-7092**_

_**XO**_

I read the note over and over again, and can't seem to stop laughing. Jace scowls at a man that is looking at me weirdly, and then drags me over to our gate. Everybody is already there, and is seated along the windows of the terminal. Jace stops at a trashcan to throw the aper away, and then drags me over to our friends. I am still giggling and wiping tears from my eyes, when Jon spots us.

"Hey, where'd you guys go? We've been here for like 5 minutes." He asks suspiciously. I open my mouth to explain Jace's amusing encounter, but he shoots me a warning glance that practically screams, '_Don't you dare'._ I shut my mouth and allow Jace to sit down, setting my on his lap.

"We got lost." He says nonchalantly, while playing with my fingers. _That's so incredibly cute,_ I think to myself. Jon still looks unsure, but drops the subject. I lean back into Jace, and he wraps his arms around my torso. He hums a soundless tune quietly into my ear, and I sigh in content before closing my eyes.

I wake up by a sweet voice whispering into my ear. I let my eyes flutter open and glance around the terminal, to see everyone in our gate lining up for boarding.

"Rossa, wake up sweetheart." Jace whispers into my ear. I sit up slowly, and get off of his lap. He stands up, smiles gently at me, and then grabs my hand. I allow him to pull my sleepy form over to the first-class section of the boarders, and then lean onto him. He wraps an arm around my shoulders kisses the top of my head. I bring my hand up to the locket, and absent-mindedly play with it.

The lady, that is helping us board the plane, calls for the first-class passengers, so we start moving. Jace leads us through a square tunnel, and then we are on the plane. A man with a kind smile points us towards the first-class section, and we find our seats. There are three rows on the plane. The two side ones have two seats, and the middle row has four. I see the other twelve members of our group settling into their seats, and Jace leads me over to ours. I sit by the window, and Jace sits next to the isle. He rests his head against the back of his seat, still holding my hand, and closes his eyes.

"I'm tired." He groans quietly. I smile softly at him, and then kiss his cheek.

"Then go to sleep." I say wisely. He chuckles, and then squeezes my hand a little tighter.

"I just might take you up on that offer, Rossa." He mumbles quietly, and then breaths in deeply. I look out of my window and see that the plane has started to move. The ladies come into the isles and demonstrate the seatbelts and oxygen masks, but I completely zone out. I catch Jon's eye, because he is in the middle row across from us, and he nods.

Soon, we are up in the air, and I decide to look through my folder, since Jace is asleep. I open the large manila folder, and see a type of list.

**Clarissa Morgenstern- Alexandra Lily, age 20, Tobias' sister**

**Jace Herondale- Liam Artright, age 21, Grace and Nicolas' cousin, Richard's brother**

**Jonathan Morgenstern- Tobias Lily, age 21, Alexandra's brother**

**Isabelle Lightwood- Grace Artright, age 20, Nicolas' sister, Liam and Richard's cousin**

**Magnus Bane- David Oliver, age 22**

**Alexander Lightwood- Nicolas Artright, age 22, Grace's brother, Liam and Richard's cousin**

**Jordan Kyle- John Charles, age 22, Samantha's husband**

**Maia Roberts- Samantha Charles, age 22, John's wife**

**William Herondale- Richard Artright, age 22, Liam's brother, Nicolas and Grace's cousin, Amy's Husband**

**Theresa Gray- Amy Artright, age 22, Richard's wife**

**James Carstairs- Will Black, age 22, Matthew's brother**

**Simon Lewis- Matthew Black, age 20, Will's brother**

**Sebastian Verlac- Blake Thomas, age 21, Mary's brother**

**Aline Penhallow- Mary Thomas, age 20, Blake's sister**

I carefully read through each and every one of our fake names. I absentmindedly start making up nicknames for everybody.

_Me- Alex_

_Jace- Liam_

_Jon- Toby_

_Izzy- Grace_

_Magnus- David_

_Alec- Nick_

_Jordan- John_

_Maia- Sam_

_Will- Dick_

I pause to giggle, and then continue.

_Tessa- Amy_

_Jem- Will_

_Simon- Matt_

_Sebastian- Blake_

_Aline- Mary_

I had written the nicknames down on the side of my folder without realizing it, and I snicker to myself. I look around at everybody, and notice that we're the only ones in the first-class section. I see Will and quietly start giggling. Jace opens his eyes out of the corner of my eye, and grins sleepily at me.

"What's so funny?" he asks groggily. I smirk at him and discretely point at Will.

"Some of our fake names are just funny." I state nonchalantly. Jace quirks an eyebrow at me, suddenly fully awake.

"Like what?" he asks skeptically. I show him the list that I had drawn on my folder, and he laughs quietly after getting to Will's name. "I'm so using that." He exclaims quietly, but still attracting the attention of our friends. Everybody looks over at us, and Jon furrows his brows.

"What are you using?" he asks Jace warily. Jace immediately backs up.

"Nothing like that, I assure you." He amends quickly, before smirking evilly over at Will. "I just find it amusing that _Dick_ over here got the perfect name to match his personality." He states casually, while everyone chuckles. Will glares at Jace.

"At least I don't have a pansy name like '_Liam'._" He sneers back. Jace just smirks, while I defend his honor.

"Actually, his name isn't a pansy one." I state, gaining everyone's attention. I shrug. "Liam Hemsworth is _hot_. Some even say that he's 'lick-a-licious'." I say factually, earning nods from Izzy, Maia, Tessa, and Aline.

"I second that." Izzy confirms, while exaggeratingly licking her lips. Jace smirks at Will, who is scowling, and relaxes into his chair.

"See, I have proof." He says casually, before grabbing his folder and reading it. Everyone goes back to their own activities, but I do catch the sly wink that Jace sends my way. I smirk in return, and go back to reading my file. _This mission is definitely not going to be boring..._

**Hi, so yeah. There's another chapter. I have decided to upload every-other day. It was just getting too hard with school and my schedule. **

**Cassandra Clare owns everything except for the plot. That's mine.**

**Thanks for the positive feedback. :)**

**Review&Follow**


	16. starting

_Clary POV_

I get up to go to the bathroom and I shut the door to the small room. I do my thing, and as I'm washing my hands, I hear a knock on the door. I walk over and unlock the door, only to be immediately pushed back into the small space. I look up in surprise, to see Jace locking the door and walking towards me slowly. I smile up at him, and he grins devilishly right back.

"Hello, Stranger. Do I know you?" he asks sarcastically, while backing me up into the wall of the small room. I lean up so that I am almost touching my lips to his and chuckle breathlessly.

"I don't know. You look familiar." I state playfully. At this, he full out smirks and presses his palms against the wall by my head.

"Maybe I need to remind you." He whispers seductively, officially sending chills down my spine.

"Maybe you do." I dare, and I don't even have to think, before his mouth collides with mine.

He presses fully against me and I wrap my arms around his neck, tangling my fingers into his hair. He brings one of his hands down from the wall and places it on my hip; rubbing slows circles where my shirt has ridden up. His tongue slides across my bottom lip, begging for entrance, and I can't help but oblige. Our tongues collide together, perfectly in sync, and I allow myself get lost in him. The softness of his hair, the smell of sunshine that lingers everywhere he goes, the way he holds me like he's not afraid to break me, but is gentle at the same time. I lightly tug on the hair at the nape of his neck, and he growls lowly against my lips. He lets his other hand travel down to my waist, and then he hoists me us by my thighs. I wrap my legs around his waist, and kiss him more urgently. He responds with the same want and need as me, and lets a hand travel up my shirt, slowly caressing my abdomen. My back is pressed against the wall, so I figure that he has enough support, and I let one of my hands wander down to the hem of his shirt. I teasingly run my fingers over a small section of skin, before slowly pressing my palm against his abs. he growls again, and lets his hand explore a little higher. Right as he reaches my ribcage though, a harsh knock sounds on the door to the bathroom. Jace and I jump apart quickly, and fix our appearances. I share a guilty smirk with him as he makes his way to the door.

"I feel like we do this a lot." He states bluntly, causing me to stifle a giggle into my hand.

He opens the door, to find an elderly woman glowering at the door. He plasters an innocent smile on his face when she looks at the two of us like we just asked her to join us for a three-way, and calmly wraps an arm around my shoulders. He nods his head at the poor old lady, and then leads us back to our seats, snickering quietly to himself the whole way.

**Time Jump**

I look out of the window as the plane lands. The runway has lights coming out of the ground, and is illuminating the bright yellow and white lines. We just arrived in Paris, after a 7 hour and 40 minute flight. It is presently 7:40 at night, and the city is shining like a spotlight in the distance. The time difference is six hours, so it would be 1:40 in the afternoon in New York right now. The sun is almost set, and the city is coming to life.

The plane finally comes to a stop at our gate, and I immediately get up and stretch. Jace, along with everybody else, stands up and steps out into the isle. He grabs my hand, and pulls me along with him to exit the plane. We walk through the square tunnel, and end up in the terminal. We all gather in a large group by the shuttle pick-up, and Sebastian pulls out his phone to call his aunt. He has a brief conversation with her, and soon enough we are all on a shuttle to our hotel.

"What hotel are we going to?" Jace asks curiously. Sebastian looks over at him, and his lip twitches slightly.

"Hotel de la Tremoille." He simply states, and then looks out of his window. Everyone's eyes are huge, except for Aline and Sebastian's. The Hotel de la Tremoille is one of the finest luxury hotels in Paris. I quickly snap out of my shock though, when we start entering the city. I can see the Eiffel Tower in the distance, and automatically look over to Jace. His mouth is pressed into a hard line, and he is studying the oncoming traffic like it has the cure to cancer. I grab his hand in mine and squeeze it gently, causing his to glance over at me in surprise.

"What are you thinking about?" I ask worriedly. He smiles a little at me, and then brings our clasped hands up to his lips. The soft kiss sends tingles up my arm, but I suppress the urge to shiver.

"Just remembering the last time that we were here." He states, smiling sadly down at me. I squeeze his hand a little tighter, and smile up at him brightly.

"Don't." I order firmly, causing him to frown at me. "Just forget the bad memories, and let's make new ones while we're here. Okay?" I quickly explain, making him laugh lightly. he nods with an amused smile playing on his lips.

"Okay." He confirms. I smile up at him, and then kiss him tenderly on the lips.

The next thing that I know, we are getting dropped off at the large hotel. This hotel, like the Hotel du Louvre, is beautiful on the outside as well. The architecture has detailed designs carved into every corner, and the hotel is completely lit up, since it's night time. The shuttle drops us off at the front door, and then we are left to wander inside.

The inside is even more beautiful than the exterior. Crystal chandeliers hang down from the ceiling, white-marble covers the floors, and expensive looking European furniture covers the empty spaces. A large counter is placed at the back of the lobby, and a kind-looking man with graying-black hair and kind brown eyes sits behind it. As we get closer, I see that his nametag says 'Aleron'. I put on my 'sale-lady' smile, and waltz right up to the counter, leaving everyone standing in the foyer. 'Aleron' looks up as I approach.

"Bonjour, comment puis-je vous aider?" _(Hello, how may I help you?)_ he asks politely. I quicky pull out my folder, and glance through the hotel information.

"Salut, nous avons des reserves au titre de L'institution." _(Hi, we have reservations under 'The Institution.)_ I say with a kind smile. He nods and then types something into his computer. I look around the room again until he looks back up at me.

"Ah, oui. L'institution; una reservation pour sept chambres au total?" _(Ah, yes. The Institution; a reservation for seven rooms total?)_ he asks brightly. I nod with a polite smile.

"Oui." _(Yes.) _I say simply. Aleron nods, and then hands me seven different packets of room keys.

"La vous allez. Profiter de votre sejour." _(There you go. Enjoy your stay.) _he says, smiling at me happily. I nod and start walking backwards to my friends.

"Merci." _(Thanks.)_ I reply, before joining the group again. I nod everyone towards the elevator, and once we're inside I push our floor. They all look at me expectantly, so I sigh and start handing out room-keys.

"Jon and Jace, Magnus and Alec, Tessa and Aline, Jordan and Maia, Will and Jem, Simon and Sebastian, and Izzy and me. Those are your groups, so that nobody does anything inappropriate," I pointedly look at John and Izzy, and then continue. "And there will be no switching." I firmly state, sending a sly wink towards Jace, who looks like he is ready to protest. He shuts his mouth with a sigh, and leans against the wall of the large elevator. Everybody seems to accept their fates, and resigns to making small talk until the elevator dings.

We all walk out of the large box, and try to find our rooms. Conveniently, all of our rooms are either next to or across from each other. Izzy and I find our room, and I glance down the hallway before everyone goes to their rooms.

"Everybody go on video-chat in an hour." I state, and without giving them time to respond, I walk into our room and close the door. There is only one, very large might I add, bed, and Izzy is face-down on top of it. I chuckle, and move over to the side of the room where our already-arrived luggage lays.

"What are you doing?" I ask amusedly, while unzipping my suitcase. She briefly lifts her head off of the bed, and stares blankly at me.

"I'm fucking exhausted." She states, before face-planting back down into a pillow. I start giggling when she starts 'snoring', and grab a pillow off of the bed.

"Sh. You'll wake the whole city with that infernal racket!" I exclaim in my best 'Granny' voice, while throwing the pillow at her. She lifts her head, and we both burst out laughing.

"Y-you sound like you're constipated!" she manages to gasp out, causing me to laugh harder. Once our laughing dies down, I tell her that I'm going to take a shower before the video-chat, and she dive-bombs back into the bed.

When I enter the bathroom, my first thought is '_Shiny'._ The counter has two sinks made of marble, the toilet is very fancy-looking, and the shower looks like it could fit eight people in it. _Ooh, eight-way, _thinks my inner perverted 13-year-old. I mentally scold myself, and quickly jump into the shower.

**Time Jump**

An hour later, Izzy and I are seated comfortably on the bed in our pajamas, with my laptop on video chat. The screen is split up into seven parts, and everyone is doing their own activities. Example: Jon and Jace are both shirtless and are flexing their muscles on their ortion of the screen, Magnus and Alec are _heavily_ making out, and everyone else is either looking on with disgusted faces or are making holding up dollar bills to Jace and Jon. _"cough" Aline, Tessa, and Maia "cough" _I clear my throat, and they all freeze.

"Are you done being imaginary strippers yet?" I ask sarcastically, causing the two boys to mumble affirmatives. "Wonderful. Now we can move on to the important part. Tomorrow we will be meeting our new guide at Clave&Co at 8:00. We will be only using our fake names. No slip-ups." I say firmly. "If you speak French, do it. The people at Clave&Co, think that we're American supervisors for Starkweather Corporations. Apparently he named his 'business' that, so just remember that." I pause looking at Jon, who nods and takes over.

"We need to be in full disguises, but no fake hair or anything. That's not necessary for this part of the mission. Be completely geared-up, and make sure to use your earpieces and the microphones. Two people will have to act as the representatives, and the rest of us will be translators and inspectors. I personally vote that Clary and Jace do it, just because they work well as a team. All agreed?" he finishes. We all nod in approval, and then say our goodbyes. I go to close my laptop, but Jace is still on the screen.

"Bonsoir, Rossa." _(Goodnight, Red) _He says softly, causing me to smile.

"Binsoir, Giallo." _(Goodnight, Yellow.) _I whisper lovingly back to him. He grins hugely, and then leans closer to the screen.

"Je t'iame."_ (I love you.)_ He whispers, before the screen goes black. My smile widens so much that it hurts my cheeks.

"Je t'iame aussi." _(I love you too.)_ I whisper back faintly to the blank screen. I just sit there staring at the screen for a while, before I hear a low whistle. I look up, and Izzy has an amused smirk plastered on her face.

"Damn, girl. You've got it bad." She exclaims, whilst chuckling to herself. I nod slightly, and turn out the lights.

"I know." I mumble to myself, before letting the darkness swallow me whole.

**Time Jump**

I shoot straight up in bed, and come face to face with an evilly grinning Izzy. I furrow my brows, and then notice that she's sitting on top of me.

"Uh, Izzy, what are you doing?" I ask groggily. She just winks at me, and then puts something out of my shirt and jumps off of me.

The first thing I notice, is that it's cold. _Really fucking cold!_ I frantically get out of bed, and try to shake the cold-death-object out of my shirt. I probably look like a lunatic, because Izzy is laughing her ass off, but I finally get it out. I look closer, and realize that it's an ice-cube. I glare at Izzy, and pick the half-melted ice-cube up off of the floor. Her eyes grow wide, and she starts towards the bathroom. When she is almost there, I jump on her and straddle her down to the floor. She is hysterically giggling, but her eyes also show fear.

"What in the _fucking hell,_ was that for?" I ask through gritted teeth, but I have to contain my laughter when she pales.

"You needed to wake up. I have to get you ready to play Miss Alexandra Lily." She says in a posh voice. I roll my eyes, quickly stick the ice-cube down her shirt, and go into the bathroom. Izzy simply gets up off of the floor and shakes out the ice-cube, before coming into the bathroom. I grab my toothbrush and start brushing my teeth, and Izzy follows suit. I quickly do my morning routine, and then Izzy drags me out towards her suitcase.

"Uh, Iz, why are we here? My suitcase is over there." I point to my large black case on the other side of the room. She just smirks at me, and hands me a piece of black material.

"Go put that on." She holds up a hand when I start to protest. "You have to dress the part to be the part." She states firmly, and then pushes me into the bathroom ad closes the door.

I sigh, and start undressing. I slip the material on my body, and gasp at the sight. It has a high neckline that subtly sweeps down underneath my collarbones, and it gathers right underneath my bodice. I smile a little when I see the skirt of the dress. It goes down to just above my knees, and has pleats sewn into the waist. I hesitantly walk out of the bathroom, and find Izzy wearing a formal red dress. It is just simple, but makes her black hair stand out. She grins when she sees me and squeals.

"I knew that you'd rock that dress." She exclaims, before going over to her suitcase and getting two pairs of heals for us. She hands me mine and my eyes all but fall out of my head. They are simple and black, but the heels are like seven inches tall. Izzy puts on a similar pair, and glares at me when she sees me going for my combat boots. "Put them on. Now." She commands, and if I wasn't an agent, I would have been scared of the death glare she sends my way. I slip the heels on, and then start gearing up.

I stack throwing knives upon throwing knives around my thigh sheathes, strap three 9mm handguns into my leather jacket, and bring a messenger bag with the new gadgets that the Agency sent with us. Next, I put my earpiece in and stick the small microphone to my dress. I straighten up and look to Izzy, who is looking at my leather jacket with a disapproving frown.

"What?" I say indignantly. "I needed somewhere to put my guns." I state, while practicing walking around in the heels. She glares at me and then lifts up the skirt of her dress, revealing two handguns and ammo strapped to her thighs.

"Why couldn't you just put them here?" she demands, smirking like she won. I grin at her evilly, and then lift up my own skirt.

"Because that spot was already taken." I state simply, while she gapes at the amount of knives I have strapped to my thighs.

"How many do you need?" she asks incredulously. My grin widens, and then I open the messenger bag, revealing more knives, gadgets, and ammo.

"Lots." And with that, I waltz out of the room. Without checking if Izzy followed me, I knock on Jon and Jace's door. I wait for a minute, and then a shirtless Jace answers. I subtly look him up and down, and he does the same.

"Are you guys almost ready?" I ask, snapping out of my Jace induced fantasies. He blinks, as if coming out of a daze, and then nods, walking back into his room with me in tow.

"Yeah." He says while slipping a white button-up shirt on. "Just let me figure out how to do this damn tie." He mumbles under his breath, while playing with the strip of fabric around his neck. I walk over to him, and start tying it for him. "Where'd you learn how to do that?" he asks curiously as I finish the knot. I shrug and then Jon decides to walk out of the bathroom, fully dressed except for his tie. I walk over to him and repeat the process that I just did to Jace.

"I've been doing it for this one ever since he was little." I state, while finishing up Jon's tie. I step back, nod in approval at my work, and then start towards the door. "Let's go." I call back to the boys, who quickly follow. When I get into the hallway, I see that everyone is there. I clap loudly, gaining everyone's attention. "Let's head out." I declare, while moving towards the elevator. They all nod, and Jace walks next to me and laces his fingers through mine. I smile briefly at him, before turning on mission-mode. _Time to bring that pansy-ass down….._

**So, there's another chapter. Enjoy!**

**Cassandra Clare owns all…. But the plot. :)**

**Thanks for the positive feedback. :)**

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	17. Mother and Father

_Clary POV_

The car pulls up to a large office building and lets us out. The Agency sent us a large black limo to escort us through-out our mission. After all, we are supposed to be working for Starkweather Corporations; one of the richest men in America. We all pile out of the fancy car, and create a small group by the front doors. Jace and I have been 'elected' to be the representatives for this particular mission, so we'll be leading. I have my leather messenger-bag slung over my shoulder, and Jace has a faulty-briefcase in his hand. We have the fake-papers to verify our intentions, and I made sure to bring some extra 'refreshments'; just in case. We lead thee group through the doors and to the front desk. I wink discretely at Jace, telling him that '_I got this'_, and start towards the girl seated at the desk. She has her brown hair pulled back into a knot, a tight dress on that shows off most of her cleavage, and what Jon would call 'Fuck-me-heels'. Her face is smothered with make-up, and she scowls when her eyes land on my form. _Yeah, be jealous bitch. _I plaster my trademark 'Go Fuck Yourself' smile, and clear my throat before speaking.

"Bonjour. Nous avons un rendez-vous avec M. Morel." _(Hello. We have an appointment with Mr. Morel.) _I state as politely as possible. The girl attempts to smile at me, but instead just types something into her computer. I look closer, and realize that her name-tag says Genevieve. _Huh, odd name,_ I think to myself. After a moment, she looks back up at me.

"M. Morel est occupe en ce moment avec un client important. Aller jouer ailleurs." _(Mr. Morel is busy with an important client at the moment. Go play somewhere else.)_ She sneers, clearly unamused with my polite behavior. _Well, at least I know that all of the bitches aren't in America. _I roll my eyes inwardly, but keep my face impassive and pull out the verification papers. I lay them down in front of her, _more like slam down, but whatever_, and flash a deadly smile.

"Nous avons parcouru tout le chemin de l'Amerique a rencontrer M. Morel. Nous sommes importants. Tondre, si vous voulez, s'il vous plait dire a M. Morel que ses 'Clients Importants' sont arrives." _(We have traveled all of the way from America to meet with Mr. Morel. We are important. Now, if you will, please tell Mr. Morel that his 'Important clients' have arrived.) _I spit poisonously, but with a pleasant smile stuck to my features. Genevieve's eyes widen, and she immediately starts typing again.

"V-vous etes les superviseurs des Corporations Starkweather?" _(Y-you are the supervisors from Starkweather Corporations?) _She stutters out. I smirk sarcastically and wink.

"Oui. Maintenant, s'il vous plait depechez-vous." _(Yes. Now, please hurry up.) _I command formally. The girl shakily nods, and then hands me a slip of paper and picks up her phone. I smirk at her and then walk back to the group, who were standing around the lobby looking extremely bored. They all look up as I near them, and I wave them over towards the elevators. We all pile in, and then Jace joins my side while we wait for the elevator to ding.

"I'm almost positive that you made that poor girl shit herself." He observes amusedly, in a hushed tone. I pause to think dramatically, and then nod like it's a regular response.

"She was a bitch." I whisper back. He chuckles, but doesn't get time to respond before the doors open with a ding. Jace and I lead our group down the hallway, and a lot of people stop and stare at us. I mean, I would too if a whole bunch of formally dressed men and women came barging into my office building. _Thank god that I'll never work in an office though._

We arrive at two, large French doors and I forcefully push them open. Everyone looks at me like I'm crazy, with an exception of Jace and Jon, who knew that I would do that, but I just grin lazily and waltz right on in. the room is quite small and just has a counter-desk placed in the middle of the room. I see that it's another girl and look hopefully to Jace. He nods slightly, and then makes his way over to the girl. The rest of us stick back, and watch as he smirks at her and charms his way into the big man's office.

He rejoins the group after a moment, and I notice that the girl has a blush covering her cheeks. Jace nods towards another set of double doors and winks at the girl before we enter, causing her to giggle and push her chest out to him. I roll my eyes and slap him upside the head as the doors close. Most girls would be jealous that their boyfriend was flirting with another girl, but it doesn't really bother me because I know that I can kick both of their asses any time. He looks at me, completely unashamed, and smirks proudly. I elbow him, hard might I add, causing him to wince slightly. I suppress a smile, and take notice of my surroundings.

The office is gigantic. A large oak desk is placed in the middle of the room, clear glass windows let you outlook the city, and row upon row of filing cabinets stack the walls to the ceiling. I look back at the desk, and see a black-haired man seated upon a leather chair. He has papers clutched in his hands and is looking intensely at them, oblivious of the 14 strangers standing in his doorway. I smirk inwardly and shut the door loudly, causing him to jump. I straighten out my features to look professional, and walk graciously over to the man. He stands quickly and holds out his hand to me.

"Vous devez etre les superviseurs. Je suis M. Morel, le proprietaire de Clave&Co." _(You must be the supervisors. I'm Mr. Morel, the owner of Clave&Co.) _He states kindly, while shaking all of our hands. I smile politely at him.

"Je suis Alexandra Lily, et c'est Liam Artright. Le reste de notre 'foule', sont les traducteurs et les inspecteurs." _(I'm Alexandra Lily, and this is Liam Artright. The rest of our 'mob', are the translators and the inspectors.)_ I say, while sitting down in one of the many chairs in front of his desk. Everybody seats themselves too, and then we get started on the meeting.

**Time Jump**

Jace grabs my hand in his and leads the group back to our limo. The meeting went well, and we are scheduled to meet Mr. Morel at the warehouse, that they are producing the pills in, on Thursday. Today is Monday, so we have to occupy ourselves until then. There wasn't that much information to gain out of the meeting. Mr. Morel basically just gave us access cards to enter the warehouse with and we discussed the production rates of formula D-9189.

I sit down in the limo, along with everybody else, and close my eyes. Although we didn't do much at the meeting, it took about four hours to accomplish; which means that it is noon and none of us have eaten anything since yesterday. I vaguely hear Jon telling the driver to take us to a restaurant, before I start to drift away.

_(Flashback)_

_The air drifts through my toes as I swing back and forth. I see the grass underneath of my bare-feet, and I giggle as I go higher. I look up at my father, who has a loving smile on his face, and smile brightly._

"_Higher, Daddy. Higher." I chant, and soon I am soaring. I hear a hearty chuckle, and then my feet are set back on the ground. My father has let go of my hands, and is shaking his head slightly at me._

"_C'mon, Clare-Bear. Your mother says that dinner's ready." He states, before lifting me onto his shoulders. I giggle again, and hold on for dear life. We enter the house, and the smell of homemade food fills my nostrils. Jon is setting the table and Mother is bringing in the food. My father plonks me down into my chair, before seating himself. Once we're all seated, Mother looks to me and Jon._

"_Kids, we have some very important news." She pauses to glance at my father, before continuing. "We are moving to Maine. Your father and I have been relocated, and that means that we'll get to spend some time with Grandma." She says enthusiastically. Jon and I glance at each other, before smiling hugely at our parents._

"_Yes." We exclaim simultaneously. We have always loved Grandma Seraphina Morgenstern. She always lets us stay up late and watch movies. Both of our parents smile at us, and then the vision fades._

_My hands are rested in my ap while my mother does my hair. She is wearing a formal green dress, the matching one to mine, and has her hair curled. She twirls the curling iron one last time, before straightening up._

"_There. Now we can be twins." She declares, smiling sweetly down at me. I giggle and hug her tightly._

"_Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now I can be as pretty as you for my birthday." I say excitedly, while spinning in a circle. Today is my 7__th__ birthday, and Jon, Mother, Father, Grandma, and I are all going out to Grandpa's lighthouse. He died before I was born, so now it belongs to Father. My mother grabs my hand and leads me towards the door._

"_Come along, Clary. We wouldn't want to miss your birthday." She teases, while setting me down into the car. Everyone else is already there. _

_Sooner than I know it, we have arrived to the lighthouse. Jon and I sprint from the car, and hurry up to the large house. Jon starts up the spiral-staircase, and I am soon to follow. He gets to the loft, and helps me up the ladder. We wonder around the light, and then I see my box. I run over to it, and lift it out of the larger box. My box is very special. It is completely made out of silver, has red rubies all over the surface, and I am the only one who knows where the key is. I retrieve the box and then go back downstairs, where the adults are turning on the generator. The lights eventually turn on, and then Grandma rings out the cake. It is a simple chocolate cake with white icing. I blow out the candles, and then we all go to sleep. Jon and I get to sleep in the loft, so we make out sleeping bags on the floor. When it gets dark, climb into Jon's with him. He puts his arm around my shoulders and brings me to him. _

"_Are you alright, Clare?" he asks softly. I nod and scoot closer to him._

"_Yeah, I just never got to open my presents." I state, in a hushed tone. Jon chuckles, and then brings out a small brown package. He hands it to me._

"_Here, Father told me to give this to you when we were alone. I got one too." He says, while pulling out an identical package. I smile up at him, and then we rip open our gifts. _

_A black velvet box lies underneath of the wrapping. I open mine, and find a large gold ring planted in the middle. It has a large 'M' on the face of it, and is decorated with stars all around the rim and the band. I gasp and look up at Jon again, to see that he is equally as shocked. He pulls out his ring and holds it up to the light. Inscribed onto the inside of the band of the ring, is 'Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern'. A small note is sitting inside of the box, and Jon picks it up to read. I look at my ring again, and take it out. Mine has 'Clarissa Adele Morgenstern' carved into the inside of the band of it, and my box also has a note. I gingerly pick it up and read it._

_**Clary,**_

_**This ring is to remind you of who you are. Your mother and I decided to give your rings to you, just in case we are suddenly taken from you. Please don't fret, that is just precautionary. We love you more than you will ever know.**_

_**Love,**_

_**Daddy**_

_I look up at Jon with wide eyes, to see him mirroring my expression. I grin madly at him, and then shoot for the door that leads back downstairs. He quickly follows, and soon we are quietly descending the large spiral staircase. We soundlessly make our way to our parent's room, and tip-toe inside. Our parents are lying on the bed, reading books. They always were reading at nighttime. Father would read to me and Jon if we can't go to sleep. They glance up as we make our way fully into the room, and Father's face breaks into a huge smile._

"_I see that you have found your gifts?" he asks, trying to be nonchalant but failing to keep the excitement out of his eyes. Jon and I both nod vigorously, and then come barreling onto the bed. I fiercely hug Father, while Jon tenderly hugs Mother._

"_Thank you. They're so awesome." We exclaim enthusiastically. Our parents chuckle, and then make room for us on the bed. We both snuggle up underneath of the covers, and then Father starts reading to us out of his book. I lazily let my eyes drift closed, content with how perfect our family is._

_(End of Flashback)_

I am startled awake, by a soft voice whispering into my ear.

"Rossa, wake up." The voice, sweet as honey, lulls me back into consciousness. I let my eye flutter open, and come face to face with Jace. I try to sit up, but then I realize that he is carrying me. I rest my head back onto his chest, and allow him to take us to our destination. I am vaguely aware of a door opening and closing, and then I am being gently set down onto my bed. I look out of the window, and notice that it is nighttime. I furrow my brows together and look up to Jace, who has produced a brown paper bag that smells like pasta.

"What time is it?" I ask groggily. He smiles down at me softly, before bringing the bag over to the bed and joining me on it.

"About 7:30. You fell asleep when we were going to go get lunch, so we all decided to take the limo around the city. Everyone eventually got tired though, so we headed back. We also picked up some fancy food from a restaurant owned by Seb's uncle." He hands me the bag, lying back against the headboard. I open it, and am immediately overwhelmed by the delicious scent of authentic French food. There are several boxes in the bag, so I raise an eyebrow at Jace.

"Why so much?" I ask curiously. He smirks at me, before grabbing one of the boxes for himself.

"All of it is really good." He pauses to open the box, revealing a delectable helping of Ratatouille. "Nobody could decide what they want, so Seb's uncle sent home practically the whole restaurant. Everybody got a huge bag like this." He says nonchalantly, before digging in. I rummage around in the bag, before finding a smaller box. I take it out, but before I open it, I look at Jace quizzically.

"Seb?" I question curiously. He nods with a mouthful of food, but he swallows before answering.

"Sebastian. He asked us to call him 'Seb'. He says that 'Sebastian is too long and makes him sound like that crab from the little mermaid'." He states, lowering his voice in a mock-tone towards the end. I giggle as I play with the box in my hands.

"He is not a 'crab'. He's a lobster. Get your facts straight." I say teasingly, before opening the box. Inside are snails. _Snails! _I shudder, drop the box onto the bed, and quickly close it back up. "Why the hell would he give you guys Escargot? That stuff's just _nasty._" I declare, while placing the box back into the bag and grabbing another one. Jace chuckles, and grabs a box out of the bag. He takes the box out of my hands, and replaces it with the new one.

"Here. It's just simple Ratatouille. I asked for a lot of that dish. It's over-all the best one out there." He states, handing me a fork. I smile slightly at his adamancy, and start eating. It takes all that I have within me not to moan in delight.

"This is _Amazing._" I declare, while over-exaggeratingly rolling my eyes up into my head. Jace chuckles lightly, but then pouts after I have overcome my food induced paradise.

"More amazing than me?" he asks, pulling on a façade of mock-hurt. I chuckle darkly, and then wink at him.

"Definitely. I would totally make-out with this food. Plus, it's seasonings are a total turn-on." I state sweetly. Jace dramatically throws a hand over his heart.

"Oh, how thou woundeth me." He fake-gasps, and then falls off of the bed, causing me to giggle.

"Good. Thou was meant to be wounded." I state, before going back to my food. Jace suddenly pops up from the floor and slowly starts to climb up my body. I set my food down onto the bedside table, and then scoot up until I am against the headboard. He leans in close to my face, his breath fanning over my neck.

"You don't mean that. I'll prove it to you." He whispers lowly. My breath hitches in my throat, and I take a moment to compose myself before speaking.

"And just how, are you planning on doing that?" I ask seductively. A slow smirk makes its way across his feature, before he lean down more, resting his forehead against mine.

"Like this." He mumbles, and then moves his head down a couple of inches. Just as our lips are about to meet, the door opens. We quickly jump apart, me sitting straight up and Jace in a crouch on the floor, before looking over at our intruder. A smug looking Izzy stands in the doorway, and she quickly walks over to her suitcase.

"Oh, don't mind me. I'm just getting clothes for tomorrow. Go back to your grope-fest or whatever kids do these days." She states before swiftly walking back to the door, clothes in hand. "Oh! BTW, I'm sleeping in Jon's room tonight. That means you guys are roomies. Yay!" she slowly backs out of the doorway, closing the door with her. "No unprotected sex though, guys. We don't need any more Jaces running around." And with that, she's gone. Jace and I glance at each other, before both simultaneously bursting into laughter.

After we have calmed down, finished our food, and gotten into bed, Jace turns the lights off. He wraps an arm around my shoulders, pulling me to him, and I rest my head on his chest. We lay there, limbs tangled together, silently for a few moments before I get the nerve to speak.

"Goodnight, Giallo." I state sleepily. Jace hugs me tighter to him and kisses the top of my head.

"Goodnight, Rossa." He says softly. I let my eyes drift shut and vaguely hear him whisper, "I love you," before letting the darkness take over. Had I been more awake, I would have responded with an '_I love you'_, but instead I just let the peace carry me away; into dreams of golden-haired angels and long forgotten memories.

**Hi, so yeah. Here's another chapter. Cassandra Clare owns all… except for the lot and the characters that I have added.**

**Thanks for the corrections on my Italian. You know who you are. I'm new to the language. Forgive me :} **

**Thanks for the positive feedback. :)**

**Review&Follow**


	18. tattoos and teddy-bears

_Clary POV_

_Tuesday_

I wake up to the sun shining in my face. I groggily blink against the invader, and try to move away from the light. I only get so far, before I am restricted by an arm. I immediately freeze, and follow the arm up to its owner. Jace lies peacefully asleep behind me. I settle back down, and turn towards him. He instinctively wraps his arm around me tighter, and I snuggle into his bare chest. I lay there for about ten minutes, before Jace starts to stir. I glance up quickly, to see that he has opened his eyes and is staring at me sleepily. He smiles softly down at me, before throwing his head back onto the pillows. I chuckle lightly and sit up a little bit.

"Morning." I state tiredly, while trying to escape Jace's death grip. He still has his face buried in pillows but I can see his smirk as he holds me tighter to him.

"Morning, Rossa." He mumbles back. I give up on trying to escape momentarily, and lay back down on his chest. I look closely at his skin, ad notice black lines peeking through around his side. I lightly trace them until they disappear around his back, and then look up at him questioningly. He slightly lifts his head off of the pillows, only to let me go after he sees where I'm looking. We sit up, and he shows me his side. Swirling designs cover his entire left side, stopping right below his heart and right above his hip bone. I stare in wonder at them and look up into his eyes. He is watching my reaction intently, waiting for me to respond.

"When'd you get them?" I ask curiously, still tracing the designs with my fingertips. He shivers slightly when I reach his ribcage and has to take a deep breath before speaking.

"When I was fifteen. My parents have always let me have whatever I wanted for my birthday, so I decided to get a tattoo." He pauses, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips, before continuing. "Of course, I had to choose one of the most painful places to get my first tattoo, but it was totally worth it." He finishes with a mischievous smile. I grin up at him, stopping my fingers from exploring anymore skin.

"Do you have any others?" I ask, interestedly. He shakes his head slightly.

"Na, I was going to get another one, but I decided to wait until I had ideas." He says with a shrug, before lying back down. I try to get out of bed while he is distracted, but he pulls me down with him. We both chuckle, before calming down.

"I've always wanted to get a tattoo. Jon has some on his back. The Morgenstern family crest and all of that." I blurt out randomly, causing Jace to look at me curiously.

"Why haven't you gotten one?" he asks curiously. I shrug, before attempting to get out of his hold again.

"I don't know, actually. I guess that I just never got around to it." I state nonchalantly, still trying, but failing, to get out of bed. Jace's chest rumbles with laughter, but he eventually lets me go.

"Why don't we go get tattoos today?" he suggests, sitting up. I eye him curiously, before standing up.

"Do they even have tattoo shops in France?" I ask doubtfully. He slightly shakes his head at me, standing up also.

"Of course they do. Especially in Paris. It's a_ huge _city, that almost guaranties at least one tattoo shop somewhere around here." He says, while pulling back on his shirt. I hesitantly nod, and then walk over to him.

"Okay, what kind of tattoos are we getting?" I ask curiously. He smirks, pulling me swiftly to him.

"We can tattoo each other's names on our bodies." He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, causing me to giggle.

"That would make us the total cliché couple." I state, smirking at him. He looks thoughtful for a moment, before he perks up.

"I have the perfect idea." He exclaims, but dashes out of the door before I can even question his so-called 'Idea'. "Get dressed and meet me in the hallway in 30 minutes!" he calls to me, before I hear a door slam shut. I slightly shake my head, and then start getting dressed. _Who knows what is going through his brain right now…_

**Time Jump**

"-and then she just started screaming at me to get out, while Jon just smiled at me. _Smiled!"_ Jace exclaims, causing me to laugh even harder. We are in the private limo, on our way to the tattoo parlor. Apparently, Jace walked in on Izzy and Jon while trying to get dressed this morning, and is now mentally scarred forever. I have to clutch at my stomach to stop laughing, while Jace smiles widely at my amusement to his situation. When I finally am able to calm down, I look over at Jace again.

"So, what was your brilliant 'idea'?" I ask curiously. Jace smiles secretly to himself, but only shakes his head slightly at me.

"Can't tell. Anyway, I just figured that since we have two days to waste until we have to meet with Mr. Morel, we might as well enjoy them. I was also thinking, that the fourteen of us could go out later, since it's only like 9:00, and explore the city." He says casually, successfully changing the subject. I nod absently, but am studying the scenery intently.

About fifteen minutes later, we arrive at the tattoo parlor. It is an upscale building, with pictures of tats in the windows. Jace leads the way in, and soon enough we are standing in front of the front desk. A lady with a couple of tattoos sits there, and glances up at up suspiciously.

"Puis-je vous aider?" _(Can I help you?) _She asks suspiciously. Jace smiles charmingly at her and she immediately brightens.

"Oui, nous aimerions obtenir des tatouages." _(Yes, we'd like tattoos.) _He states calmly, causing the lady to roll her eyes.

"De toute evidence, vous etes dans un salon de tatouage." _(Obviously, you are in a tattoo parlor.) _She snorts out, causing me and Jace to grin. "Oui, quel genre de tatouages que vous voulez?" _(So, what kind of tattoos do you want?) _She asks us, suddenly a lot friendlier. I look to Jace, who tugs me over to the wall of designs.

"I have a really good idea, so bear with me." He whispers into my ear, holding up one finger towards the lady, signaling '_one more minute'_. She nods, and then Jace leans down so that we are seeing eye-to-eye. "We should get '_Rossa_' and '_Giallo_' done on each other." He states with an amused grin. "That way we can still be the 'Ultimate Cliché Couple', or as I have come to call the 'UCC', but have proof that we are more intelligent than the 'Average Cliché Couple'." He finishes with a proud grin, and I can't help but giggle at his logic.

"Okay, I actually like your idea, but stop calling us the 'UCC'. It's already a thing, and people would think that we are mentally unstable if you happen to say that in public." I state with an amused smirk. Jace looks at me with a childlike excitement.

"So, we can do the whole '_Rossa_' and '_Giallo_' thing?" he asks hopefully. I nod with a chuckle, and he subtly fist-pumps into the air. "Yes! Okay, let's go." He declares determinedly, before dragging me back over to the lady.

"Ok, donc nous voulons…" _(Okay, so we want…)_

**Time Jump**

I lean against the window in the limo. We're on our way back to the hotel, because we just got our tattoos finished. It is 11:00 now, and we are going to take everyone to explore the city. I glace down at my arm, and idly finger the white bandage that is covering a small spot on the inside of my right elbow. Truth be told, we did get '_Rossa' _and '_Giallo' _scrawled onto each other. Mine is in intricately detailed lettering, while Jace's is more gothic looking. I look over at Jace, to see that he is laying spread-eagle on the floor of the limo. I stifle a giggle into my hand and join him there. He wraps an arm around my shoulders, and pulls me to him.

"Hi." He whispers quietly. I snuggle into his side more, before answering.

"Hi. What are we doing when we pick up the rest of the group?" I ask curiously. Jace gets a thoughtful look on his face for a moment, before an evil smirk takes over his features.

"We should go to the Catacombs." He suggests, looking down at me hopefully. I nod in agreement.

"Yeah, okay. We can do that, but I highly doubt that looking through creepy underground passageways will take all day. We should also go to the Eifel Tower, or some other famous tourist attraction." I state absently. Jace nods, but doesn't get time to respond before the limo pulls to a stop. We sit up and vacate the limo, before heading up to our rooms.

In the elevator on the way up, Jace pulls me towards him. I stumble a bit in surprise, but quickly regain balance when his lips meet mine. He backs me up so that I am flush against the wall of the elevator, and then starts kissing me more fiercely. His tongue is magical, like literally _magical._ I swallow down a moan when he bites my lip, and tug on his hair. I pull back a little for air, but he just keeps making his way down my neck. He sucks on the part at the base of my throat, and I growl and tug harder at his hair. I pull his face back up to mine, but right before our lips meet, the elevator dings. We spring apart like we burnt each other, and try to straighten out our clothes and such. Just as I almost have my breathing under control the doors open, and Jace and I are met with fourteen pairs of curious eyes. I see Jace swallow in my peripheral, so I take liberty of talking.

"We're going to go explore the city, so hurry up." I state, before moving towards Jace to give everyone room I the large elevator. Jon just so happens to stand right next to us on the ride down, and eyes me suspiciously. He does that for a moment before snapping his crucial gaze to Jace, who is trying to avoid him.

"Were you trying to defile my sister on an elevator?" he asks incredulously. Jace clears his throat, clearly warning everyone not to laugh, and looks Jon straight in the eye.

"Maybe, but if anything, she was the one doing the defiling." He states casually, only flinching slightly when I elbow him. Jon glares darkly at me, but I will not let him win this one.

"Oh please. What do you think you and Izzy were doing last night?" I ask with annoyed-amusement. Everyone snickers except for Jordan, who is scowling at the floor.

"I swear you two are like rabbits. I could hear you for hours, _hours, _last night!" he exclaims, shuddering to add to the effect. We all start laughing, except for Jon and Izzy. Izzy at least has the decency to blush and look down, while Jon just smirks proudly at Jordan.

"You were listening?" he accuses, amusedly. Jordan just flips him off, but the elevator dings before he can respond. We all file out of the claustrophobic box, and head towards the limo.

Twenty minutes later, we are at the Catacombs entrance. We have to forcefully drag Izzy into them, but in the end she relented because Maia promised to take her shopping tomorrow. _Time to walk through some creepy underground tunnels…._

**Time Jump**

"Ew! Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew!" Izzy exclaims, brushing off her clothing and shuddering. I roll my eyes at her antics, and look out of my window.

We have just left the Catacombs, and everyone is in agreement that we go to the Eifel Tower. It is around 2:00, we got lunch after our morbid walk in the underground, and we are all piled in the limo, silent except for Izzy, who is over-exaggeratingly wiping at her clothes. So, maybe going through tunnels made of human remains wasn't the ideal activity for a Tuesday, but Jace and I had fun. I'm actually almost positive, that everyone had fun except for Tessa, Aline, Maia, Magnus, and Izzy. _Drama-queens. It was just a couple of bones, stop whining. _Though, everyone is awful quiet. _Oh, well._

Jace grabs my hand and interlocks our fingers. We probably had the most fun today. Jon still hasn't noticed our tattoos, so it will be interesting to see his reaction. I have tried to hide my right arm from him, but he has always been over-observant, so I guess that we'll have to wait and see. The limo pulls to a stop right in front of the Eifel Tower, and we all get out. Our group makes its way up to the tower, and then we start climbing. Everyone splits up into groups, and Jace and I wander off into the gift-shop. I walk around the store Jace sneaks away for a moment.

While I'm looking at some glass towers, Jace quietly walks up behind me and covers my eyes. I smirk, and try to get out of his hold to no avail. He chuckles into my ear, and starts pulling me away from the store.

"C'mon, Rossa. We're almost there." He states amusedly. I groan when he leads me outside, but he just starts whistling.

"Where are you taking me, Giallo?" I ask incredulously. Suddenly we stop, and I feel Jace's hot breath on the back of my neck.

"Brace yourself for this." He whispers lowly, and then removes his hands from my eyes. I blink a few times, but my eyes immediately widen at the sight in front of me.

Now, most girls' boyfriends would set up a picnic on the Eifel Tower, or some shit cheesy like that. Not mine. In front of me lies a big-ass teddy-bear. It's propped up against one of the rails and has a black and white striped shirt on and a black hat. Big-Ass-Teddy even has a large red bow wrapped around its neck. I look at Jace, completely bewildered, and raise an eyebrow at his smirking form.

"Why in the _hell_ is there a fucking teddy-bear on the Eifel Tower?" I ask in amused curiosity. He grins wider at me, before leading me over to said bear. I reach out to touch it, while Jace explains himself.

"Well, I already got you a necklace, so I decided, '_Hey, let's get our five-foot-tall girlfriend, a six-foot-tall teddy-bear'._ I am almost positive that every girl, at some point, has wanted an overly-large teddy-bear to cuddle with." He dramatically makes a sweeping gesture towards Big-Ass-Teddy. "Dream come true, right?" he says, topping his little display off with an overly sweet smile. I giggle at his antics, and kiss him on the cheek.

"Thank-you, I feel like you always are getting me things and I get you nothing in return." I state factually, while trying to pick up Big-Ass-Teddy. Jace shakes his head at me softly.

"I don't want anything else I return. Only you." He states softly, but the look in his eye proves that he is honest. Smile lovingly up at him, and then bring my lips to his. We kiss tenderly for a few minutes, before I pull away and look at him accusingly.

"You probably also bought Big-Ass-Teddy, just to watch me struggle to remove him from the premises." I say, mock-glaring the whole time. He looks at me in confused amusement for a minute, before slowly shaking his head at me.

"Okay, first of all, Big-Ass-Teddy? And second of all, that thought never crossed my glorious mind in the process of purchasing, but now that you pointed that out…" he rubs his chin like 'The Thinker', but cuts off the rest of his statement when I playfully slap him. He mock-winces and rubs his arm. "Hurtful. I'm going to have to file for abuse." He comments, but holds his hands up in surrender when I glare darkly at him. I nod, satisfied, before remembering his earlier statement.

"Yes, Big-Ass-Teddy. That was the first thought that came to my mind when I laid my 'glorious' eyes upon him." I state, mocking Jace's earlier self-praise. He attempts to glare at me, but a smile breaks through when I mimic his actions.

"My girlfriend is a genius." He mumbles to himself, while pulling me towards him. I wrap my arms around his neck and he winds his around my waist.

"You got that damn-straight." I mumble back, successfully getting a chuckle out of Jace. Just as we are about to let our lips meet, a voice breaks through our peaceful solace.

"See, I told you that we'd find them." I hear Izzy scold someone. Jace and I look over to her, and see that our entire group is trailing behind the stiletto-clad beauty. Jon is looking at us in exasperation, and waves us over to them. I pull away from Jace and attempt to pick up Big-Ass-Teddy. Noticing my struggle, Jace easily picks him up and leads us towards the group. They all eye us like we're mentally unstable, _never claimed to be, _and look back and forth from Big-Ass-Teddy to us. Jordan sputters out an incredulous laugh, being the first to break the tension.

"What the hell is that." He inquires, motioning towards Big-Ass-Teddy. I grin to myself, preparing to not laugh at my next statement.

"_That_ is a he, and _he_ is Big-Ass-Teddy." I state, struggling to keep a straight face. Jace doesn't even try and bursts out laughing. We all have started making out way towards the elevator on the tower, so we're talking while walking. _Talk the talk, walk the walk, _my internal 12-year-old thinks vaguely. Everyone is either gawking at me, or is quietly snickering to themselves. Jordan however, looks completely serious. He regards Big-Ass-Teddy with a thoughtful expression, before suddenly perking up.

"Big-Ass-Teddy is too long. Call him Bat." He states, looking awfully proud of himself. I nod vigorously while climbing onto the elevator.

"Okay, Bat it is." I agree, and then we are being descended towards the ground. When the elevator pulls to a stop, we all pile out of the moving box and head back towards the limo. I glance at my phone, and see that it's almost 6:00. _Whoa, we were there for a long time._

Soon enough, we are all walking down the hallway in our hotel and I am still struggling with Bat. Jace and Jon are staying in their room tonight, so Izzy and I will be sharing a room again. When I get into the room, I immediately drop Bat and drop onto the bed. Izzy giggle at me and goes into the bathroom. I tiredly pick myself up off of the bed and change into pajamas.

About an hour later, Izzy and I are seated on our bed watching TV, when a loud knock sounds on our door. I groan and Izzy gets up to check who it is. I vaguely hear talking, and then Jace comes in the room with a bag in his hand.

"I come baring gifts." He states, and then sets the bag down on the bed. I immediately smell greasy food, so I tear open the bag and am overwhelmed by the heavenly smell of fries. I smile up at Jace brightly kiss him on the cheek.

"Thank you." I say, while searching through the bag. Izzy joins me on the bed, and we hastily start looking through the food options. Jace chuckles and places a kiss on the top of my head before heading towards the door.

"You're very welcome. Goodnight, Rossa. Izzy." He states simply, and with that he leaves our room and shits the door behind him. I glance over at Izzy, who is stuffing a cheeseburger into her mouth, and grab mine out of the bag. I take a huge bite out of my burger, right as Izzy lets out a loud moan.

"I didn't even know that they had fries in France." She exclaims, while taking another large bite out of her burger. I roll my eyes at her and swallow, before responding.

"Izzy, they're called _French _fries for a reason." I state obviously. She looks at me like I just solved cancer.

"Oh… now I feel really stupid." She states, causing me to giggle and her to join in soon after. _How do I even know these people?_

**So, there's another chapter. Enjoy! Sorry for updating late. I got lazy. "smiles sheepishly"**

**Cassandra Clare owns all… except for the plot and my new characters. :)**

**To answer your questions:**

**1. Yes I do use google translate for the Italian, but I can speak French pretty well already. It's just a nice helper-outer. :)**

**Thanks for all of the positive feedback. :)**

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	19. planning

_Clary POV_

_Thursday_

I lightly bang my head against the window. The weather decided to be a _bitch_ today, so we have been in traffic for about 40 minutes. We are headed to the Clave&Co warehouse today, to meet with Mr. Morel to 'inspect' the products. It's about 8:00, so everyone is dead tired and only half awake.

Yesterday, we all kind of hung around the hotel; except for Maia and Izzy, who went shopping. She literally whined until Maia agreed to take her, because after all '_She promised to take me yesterday if I went into that __Cave of Corpses'__. _Maia, although begrudgingly, ended up taking her after she started crying. The sight was quite amusing for everyone, especially when she smiled brightly, only minutes after 'bawling', after Maia finally relented to taking her.

I am pulled out of my thoughts, by the limo pulling to a stop. I glance out of my window to see a large black metal building. I look around us, and I see row upon row of sunflowers. I furrow my brows and look around again. _I thought that we were in France, not Kansas. _One look at the others' faces, says that they are thinking the same thing. I see a door open on the large metal building, and Mr. Morel walks out. He smiles widely when he sees us, and walks towards our group.

"Bonjour, wecome a Clave&Co de logement principal de productory." _(Hello, welcome to Clave&Co's main productory housing.)_ He greets us brightly. Everyone smiles back timidly; except for Jace, who smirks smugly at the poor man.

"Oui. Maintenant, allons-nous passer a 'inspecter' le produit, ou devrions-nous rester a l'exterieur." _(Yes. Now, shall we get on with 'inspecting' the products, or should we stay outside?) _Jace exclaims sarcastically, causing me to slightly glare at him. He just shrugs off my dark look and walks smoothly up to Mr. Morel, whose smile has dimmed slightly. We all follow, although reluctantly and soon we are inside of the warehouse.

Shelves upon shelves are stacked on the walls. They run from floor to ceiling and are packed to the max with boxes. Mr. Morel spreads his arms wide, gesturing for us to look. I can't help but open one of the nearest boxes. The box is about the size of a shoe-box and has hundreds of small plastic-bags inside. I gingerly pull one out and find two of those pills, formula D-9189, tucked neatly inside of the small bag. My eyes widen in realization after a moment. This warehouse is huge and if each of these boxes has hundreds of bags of pills in them, then that means that Clave&Co's production line moves very quickly. I turn towards Mr. Morel, and plaster a fake smile onto my face.

"Monsieur, est-ce arriver a etre le seul entrepot, ou y at-il de plus?" _(Sir, would this happen to be the only warehouse, or are there more?) _I ask, trying to sound factually interested and not like I'm trying to pry. He smiles politely at me and nods his head slightly.

"Dans l'affirmative, c'est le seul. Bien, M. Starkweather peut avoir a investor dans un autre entrepot. Si tout se passe comme prevu, nos machines seront faisant de nouveau produit dans le prochain mois." _(Yes, this is the only one, although, Mr. Starkweather may have to invest into another warehouse. If everything goes as planned, our machines will be making product again within the month.) _He explains, smiling at us proudly. I resist the urge to roll my eyes, but sigh slightly in relief all the same. _At least we only have one extremely large warehouse full of illegal substances to destroy, _I think lightly before remembering what Mr. Morel said about making product _again._ I quirk an eyebrow at him, and he seems to get the hint to continue.

"Nous avons récemment manqué des ingrédients pour fabriquer le produit, donc la semaine prochaine nous allons commander un peu plus. La formule que M. Starkweather nous a envoyé utilise des matériaux rares, de sorte que vous pouvez le voir, ils prennent un certain temps pour mettre la main sur." _(We recently ran out of ingredients to make the product, so next week we will be ordering some more. The formula that Mr. Starkweather sent us uses rare materials, so as you can see, they take a while to get our hands on.) _He says kindly, walking around the large warehouse. He leads us towards a large vault in the back of the building, and then waits patiently for everyone to pay attention to him. "C'est là que nous gardons la formule."_ (This is where we keep the formula.)_ He states, before typing in a code on the keypad and opening the vault door.

I discretely look towards Magnus, who is looking intently at the keypad, and then start towards the vault. I vaguely see him winking at said keypad and then he follows the rest of the group. _Alec's got a lot of competition now, _I think sarcastically before walking into the vault fully. Mr. Morel is standing in the middle of the vault, looking at a large glass case. I quietly make my way over to him and see that a small SD-card is suspended in the middle of the glass case. The glass is about an inch thick, has discretely placed heat sensors on the sides, and another keypad on the side of it. _That must be the formula, _I think, ingeniously. Mr. Morel turns towards our group and gestures to the SD-card with his hand.

"La formule, comme vous pouvez le voir, est conservé en lieu sûr. Personne, sauf pour moi, a accès à cette salle, il est complètement gardée. J'ai personnellement pris les précautions d'ajouter des alarmes pour le revêtement de verre, juste au cas où." _(The formula, as you can see, is being kept safe. No one, except for me, has access to this room, so it is completely guarded. I have personally taken the precautions of adding alarms to the glass covering, just in case.) _He explains, sounding awfully proud of himself. I nod along with the rest of the group, but look around the small room. Cameras are placed in every corner, even the floor. Small laser-projectors line the walls and ceiling. _Stealing this is going to be a bitch. _Mr. Morel smiles at us briefly, before ushering us out of the vault and closing the door tightly.

I notice Magnus winking at the keypad again, only this time while Mr. Morel types in the code, and then he turns his attention elsewhere. I furrow my brows, but drop the subject when Mr. Morel starts walking towards the exit. We all follow obediently, and soon we are standing in front of our limo again.

After saying brief goodbyes and making another appointment to meet at the Clave&Co headquarters on Monday, we all pile into the limo and head off back to our hotel.

**Time Jump**

I suspiciously look at Magnus while we are in the elevator. He looks nonchalant, but I know that he is up to something. The elevator dings, and we all head out into the hallway towards our rooms. I trail behind at the back of the group and keep an eye on Magnus. Jon is in the lead, so when he turns towards everyone, we all stop.

"We have some things to discuss, so let's all go to me and Jace's room." He states, before opening his door and leading the way in. We all follow, and soon we are seated in a semi-circle around the bed and chairs. I sit on the bed, and Jace pulls me onto his lap. I lean back against his chest and he hugs me to his body while everyone else is getting situated. Jon sits in the middle of the group, so we all look directly at him when he starts speaking.

"Now, the product is, as we know, all being stored in a single warehouse about 15 miles outside of Paris. Clave&Co has apparently run out of ingredients for the next batch of pills, so we need to make our move before they order new materials. According to Mr. Morel, they are planning on ordering a new supply of materials next week. That narrows our time slot down to a couple of days, maybe more. We are supposed to meet with Mr. Morel again at the Clave&Co headquarters on Monday, so we need to compete the mission before they suspect anything of us." He pauses, looks around the room, and then continues with his speech. "I had a not-so-brilliant idea when we were in the warehouse, and now I think that it could work. First, we will have to retrieve the SD-card with formula D-9189 on it. Second, we will have to securely leave Paris after we complete the mission, so we will need a safe-house. Thirdly, we will have to destroy the entire batch of 'product' that is being stored in the warehouse. That means, basically burning down the whole building." He takes out a small round devise out of his pocket. "This is a compressed explosive. We will place about six of these throughout the warehouse, and set them off with a control box after we have retrieved the SD-card. The whole building will go up in flames, so we need to high-tale it out of there way before we ignite the flame. Of course, that was a metaphor, because we will be setting off the explosives with a control box, but you get the idea." He leans back onto his hands, and then looks towards Magnus. "The only problem with my plan, would be gaining access to the vault, but I'm pretty sure that Magnus got the passcodes?" he asks hopefully.

Magnus nods vigorously and then pulls out a laptop. He types something into it, and then turns the screen towards the rest of the group. The whole screen has black and green numbers running across it really fast. Symbols and letters are also mixed in with the numbers, and it looks like a series of codes moving quickly across the screen. We all look at him questioningly, so he sighs before he starts speaking.

"These numbers are the firewall to the security system on the vault. I upgraded my contact lenses last night, so they have cameras in them now." He winks at the group, and then pulls out his phone. He shows us the screen, and picture of us in Jon's room is placed there. My eyes widen in realization, before narrowing again on the laptop. _So that's why he was suggestively winking at the keypad in the warehouse. _Magnus lowers his phone, types some more into the laptop, and then faces the group again. "I have all of the passwords to the building now, and I can deactivate the lasers and such if needed." He states, before going back to typing. Jon nods approvingly, before looking around the group.

"We will have to do this before Monday, when we are scheduled to meet with Mr. Morel again. That means that we have to complete this mission this weekend. It's Thursday, so I say that we take action on Saturday. That way we will have time to escape the country, and settle down into the safe-house. Now, that's another issue. Where are we going to make our safe-house?" he asks the group. Everyone is silent for a minute, before I hesitantly raise my hand. He rolls his eyes at my behavior, but nods at me all the same.

"We could go to the lighthouse." I suggest softly, not sure if Jon will agree to take our friends to the only property that we have left of our parents. He seems to freeze for a moment, before nodding slightly at me.

"Yeah," He pauses to clear his throat, before continuing. "That's a great idea. Okay, so we have our safe-house, is everyone okay with gong to Maine?" he inquires to the group. Everyone except for Will, Tessa, Jem, Seb, and Aline nods. Will speaks up first.

"Actually Tessa, Jem, and I will be going back to England. We already have an apartment there, so it would be more reasonable for us." He explains, smiling slightly at Jon, who nods at him before turning his attention onto Seb and Aline. Seb clears his throat before speaking.

"Well, since Aline and I are based out of France, we will just most likely stay here. Our aunt lives at the Paris Institute, so we'll just be coming home from the mission. Same thing as we always planned." He admits sheepishly. Jon nods in understanding, before addressing the rest of the group.

"Alright, then that's what we'll do. The nine of us will grab the first flight to Maine on Sarurday night, while Will, Jem, and Tessa head out to England, and Seb and Aline stay here. Does everyone understand?" he asks our group firmly. We all nod, and then Jon gets up from his spot of the bed. "Okay, now that that's settled, go back to your own rooms for the rest of the day." He glances down at his watch, before returning his attention back to the group. "It's about 12:30, so order room service if you would like. Just don't leave the hotel or do anything stupid. If all goes as planned, we will be leaving in two days." He pauses, to take on a mock-stern expression. "Now, disperse." He declares, dramatically waving his arms towards the door. Everybody quickly leaves to their own rooms, and soon it is just Jace, Jon, and I.

Jace and I are still lying down on the bed, me on top of him, so Jon grabs the TV remote, lies down on the other side of the bed, and turns on some foreign news channel. I lean my head back against Jace's collar bone and close my eyes for a second. Last night I didn't get hardly any sleep. Izzy kept trying to get me to try on some of her new clothes, so I eventually had to lock myself in the bathroom ad sleep in the large Jacuzzi. It was surprisingly comfortable, but we all had to wake up at around 5:00 to start gearing up. I'm still wearing my business-lady clothes, so I'm very uncomfortable. Jace gently rolls me so that I am tucked into his side, and then starts rubbing small circles into my back. I vaguely hear him and Jon talking while I am trying to sleep, but all of a sudden my arm starts to cramp up. I stretch my right arm out until it's straight and then try to sleep again. Unlucky for me though, Jon must have noticed the bandage on my inner elbow, because suddenly a hand grips my forearm. I slowly open my eyes, and come face to face with my brothers'. His dark eyes glare into mine accusingly, causing me to sit up straight.

"What in the _hell _is that?" he asks calmly, glaring pointedly at the bandage on my inner arm. I discretely try to tuck my arm back into my side, but Jon still has ahold of my forearm, so I just basically made myself look guilty. _Good job, dipshit. _I internally roll my eyes at myself, but outwardly I am smiling as innocently as possible at Jon. His glare practically screams '_I know that you did it', _but I keep up my innocent façade for the time being.

"What do you mean, dear sweet brother?" I ask, completely over-sugar-coting it. He rolls his eyes slightly, before pointing at my arm.

"_That!_ That's what I mean." He exclaims exasperatingly. I fix my facial expression into one of 'the-slow-blonde-has-an-epiphany'.

"_Oh_. That's just my tattoo." I state nonchalantly, while I am chastising myself internally. _Nice, just keep digging. Maybe you'll be in China soon. _Jon narrows his eyes at me and then looks towards Jace, who is now sitting up straight. He appears to be relaxed, but I can feel the tension rolling off of him like a waterfall. He clears his throat quietly, before speaking.

"Um, guys? What's going on?" he asks, also trying to appear innocent. I vaguely see him moving his left arm behind his back, and just hope that Jon doesn't see the motion. My heart drops when his obsidian eyes follow the movement and narrow into slits.

"Well, you should know, _Jace._" He hisses. Jace's eyes widen slightly, but he otherwise remains his cool.

"Know what?" he asks casually, although I can hint a small tremble in his voice. Jon is usually very sweet and funny, but when he wants to be scary, he can just about make you shit yourself with his scary-calm approach. I decide to intervene before things get out of hand, so I stand up from the bed.

"Okay, that's enough questioning for tonight, guys." I address them nervously, before tuning my full attention on Jon. "Look, I got a tattoo on Wednesday. No big deal. It isn't even that big." I try to change the subject, but Jon's glare doesn't falter for a second, so I know that I'm not going to win this battle.

"_No big deal?!_ You were supposed to tell me if and when you got your first tattoo. You promised!" he exclaims, now also standing up from the bed. I swallow guiltily, before looking at him in the eyes.

"I know, but I got caught up in the moment. Besides, you never told me when you got yours." I shoot right back at him. He looks completely unfazed by my accusation, but I can see the ghost of a smile trying to break through his hard exterior.

"That's different. I got mine while I was drunk. I didn't even know about them until I was showering, and I still told you afterwards." He defends himself, like a professional. I roll my eyes at him, groan, and then flop back down onto the bed. Jace is looking between the two of us quizzically, but shrugs it off when I am on the bed again. An awkward silence settles between the three of us, until Jon decides to break it. "So, what did you get?" he asks, not sounding like he was death-glaring Jace and I only seconds ago. I pick my head up off of the bed and gently pull the bandage off of my arm. The letters are still sore, but they look bad-ass. Jon gingerly holds my arm to inspect my mark, only to burst out laughing after reading the writing.

"Y-you got his nickname needled into your arm?!" he asks incredulously. Jace and I both chuckle at the cliché-ness of the situation and nod. Jace reveals his left arm to Jon, causing him to fall off of the bed laughing. "Oh, Clare. You really outdid yourself this time." He manages to gasp out in between laughing fits. I smirk at his endless amusement, before walking over to his form on the floor and nudging his side with my shoe.

"Yeah, we thought that it was funny too. Now get your heavy ass up. I'm starving." I exclaim dramatically, before running over to the room-service booklet on the bedside table. Jon manages to get up off of the floor, still chuckling and shaking his head at us, and goes to sit on the bed again.

"What am I going to do with you two?" he mumbles to himself. "I told you though, didn't I?" he asks me, louder this time. I raise an eyebrow at him from where I am at the hotel phone. He shrugs at me. "I told you that you guys were in_ lurv_." He explains, while wiggling his eyebrows at us suggestively. Jace smacks him in the face with a pillow and I flip him off, causing him to laugh into said pillow. Roll my eyes before returning to ordering food. _Idiot…_

**So, yeah. There's another chapter. Sorry, again, for the late upload. I'm a shitty author. **_**Oh, well… **_**My laptop also decided to erase my story so… sorry. Cassandra Clare owns all… Except for the plot and my ideas... :)**

**Thanks for all of the positive feedback. :)**

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	20. chasing the Chairman

_Clary POV_

"Okay everybody. Today, we are going to be planning 'The End'. That is what I have decided to call this phase of the mission, the last phase might I add, so that's what we're going with." Jon announces loudly, gaining the attention of the entire group.

We are all gathered inside of Jace and Jon's room, again, to discuss the events of tomorrow. It is Friday morning right now, so everyone is still in their pajamas. To be precise, it is around 5:30am. I stifle a yawn at the thought of being up this early. No one was planning on getting up this early today, so we all were in for a real shock when Jon came busting through our doors at around 5:00. He got cursed at quite a bit, but since I'm his 'lovely sister', he has bruises to remind him of his mistakes. I may or may not have thrown one of Izzy's stilettos at his face while he was retreating from our room. _Yeah, now the little bitch's got a good ole shiner on his cheek. If you ask me, it really helps his complexion. _

"Now," Jon speaks up again, successfully breaking me out of my revere. "We are going to have to plan _every single step_ out _very_ carefully. There's no time to screw up tomorrow." He pauses, turning his laptop towards the group.

We are all piled onto the large king-sized bed; everyone is lying on their stomachs or some, like me, are lying down on top of their boyfriends. Jace is barely awake, so when he flopped down onto his bed, I took it upon myself to keep him warm. _Wouldn't want him to get a cold… _Jon wasn't very happy about my practically laying on top of Jace, but he can go cry to someone else. _It's not like I give a shit. _And by the looks of it, neither does Jace; who is idly playing with my hair and slightly dozing off. I have to keep squeezing his hand to keep him awake. _Boys. _

"Magnus got all of the access points and passwords for us last night, so all that we have to do is put the plan into action. Yesterday we basically planned out everything, but there are some key materials that we will have to go pick up from the store before tomorrow. I will assign Clary, Jace, Magnus, and Alec to go do that. Now, I know that I'm not specifically 'in charge', but will that work for you guys?" he addresses us four, and we all nod in confirmation. He smiles briefly at me, before continuing.

"Okay, good. So, Magnus already has the list of things to go get, so after this meeting you guys can head out." He pauses to type something into his laptop, before facing the group again. "The explosives that I showed you yesterday are already packed up into a case, so all that we have to do is put them into place. This phase of the mission should be pretty simple, if we do things right. Tomorrow, we will need to split up into teams. Not everyone will be actually going down to the warehouse, some of us are going to have to go to the airport and run the hacking software from there; so the teams will be based on your skill. We need Magnus to be our tech-guy at the warehouse, so Simon, Maia, Tessa, Jem, Aline, and Alec will be going to the airport. Alec, I know that you're not a hacker, but you know the system well enough. Is that okay with you?" Jon hedges unsurely. Alec nods and smiles in assurance to Jon, who almost sighs with relief.

"Great, so that means that Clary, Jace, Izzy, Magnus, Jordan, Will, Seb, and I will be going down to the warehouse. We'll have to split up into teams at the warehouse too, depending on who will set up the explosives and on who will be breaking into the vault. I personally think that we need someone_ tiny_ to sneak in and out of the vault," he looks pointedly to me and I scowl at his wording. "So, I think that Clary should do that. With whoever else will help her out, of course." He explains, pointedly ignoring my death-glare. Magnus and Jace immediately raise their hands into the air, and Jon nods in their direction.

"Okay, so Clary, Jace, and Magnus will be retrieving the SD-card from the vault; Alec, Maia, Tessa, Simon, Jem, and Aline will be going to the airport and hacking into the security cameras; and Izzy, Jordan, Will, Seb, and I will be placing and activating the explosives. Is that all clear?" he addresses the group, getting various nods and 'mmhm's in agreement. He looks pointedly towards Magnus, who nods and stands up from his position on the large bed. Jon flings himself down onto Magnus' previous spot, right as Magnus starts speaking.

"The remote for the explosives is going to be with me at all times. I will only press the 'ignite' button, when I am sure that everyone has vacated the premises. If, and only if, one of us happens to get caught, I will find another way to ignite the explosives. I won't press the button if it is putting one of our lives at risk. It's just not worth it." He starts, making all of us gulp at his depressing tone. He is silent for a moment, but when he speaks again, he smiles brightly.

"Anyway, I will have the remote. We will basically be breaking into the warehouse, but we'll have the passwords and unlimited access to the building. The five of you who are placing the explosives around the warehouse, will each get three of them to place. It really doesn't matter where you put them, just as long as they are going to destroy the foundation of the building when I set them off. Clary, Jace, when we go into the vault, the security cameras and the lasers will be shut off. The only problem that we will have is getting the glass case off of the SD-card. It weighs about 200 pounds, so Jace, you and I will be doing most of the work. No offence, Clary." He adds in my direction. I roll my eyes at him and smile faintly.

"None taken." I say, trying not to let any sarcasm slip into my tone. He must have noticed because a smirk pulls at the corners of his mouth, but he quickly fixes his features into those of seriousness before it has time to escape through his lips. He discretely clears his throat before continuing.

"All that you have to do, Clary, is take the SD-card out of its holder and place it into this capsule. You just have to slip the SD-card into here and hook it up to your gear." He states, while bringing out a small square object. He presses a button on the side of it, and it opens to reveal a small spot in the middle of it that would fit an SD-card. I nod at him and he continues.

"Those of you who are going to the airport, you guys just have to keep surveillance on us through the building's security cameras. Simon and I have already worked it out, so you guys will be listening to his command. Just basically watch us and warn us through our earpieces if anybody happens to come to the warehouse while we're still there. That brings us to another subject, the time of commencing 'The End'. According to Clave&Co's security schedule, their system has a large whole of time between 9:00pm and 11:30pm. That gives us approximately two hours to get in, place the explosives, retrieve the SD-card, and get out without being seen. I suggest that we go there around 9:30, just to be safe. It is a Saturday, so the security guards that are posted around the property will most likely not be focused. We can use this to our advantage and take them out while they're distracted. Izzy, that's where you'll come in, you'll need to dress up so that you are 'appealing' to the night-guards, and work your magic on them while everyone else takes them out." He pauses to look at Jon. "That is, if you're okay with that?" he hesitantly asks Izzy, not breaking eye contact with Jon. She smiles excitedly at Magnus and nods.

"Absolutely, if I'm good at anything, it would be seduction." She states factually, causing Jon to flush slightly and smirk at her. She winks at him and that's all that it takes for me to want to throw-up. I quickly get up off of Jace's lap and stand by the window on the other side of the room.

"Okay, first of all, ew! Second of all, please continue Magnus, before they start going at it while we're all still here!" I exclaim dramatically, covering my ears and pretending to gag. The whole group chuckles at my behavior, before glancing back at Magnus. He grins at me while I retake my seat on Jace's lap and then continues on with his speech.

"So, back to the topic. After the guards are taken out, we will move in. Clary, Jace, and I will head straight for the vault, while Jon, Jordan, Izzy, Will, and Seb set the explosives into place. We should only be in the warehouse for about 20 minutes, at most. The process of retrieving the SD-card will take the longest, so when we finish with that, we will need to book it out of there very quickly. I was only able to gain access to the security system for 30 minutes tops, so we need to use our 'stealth and speed' to complete the mission." Magnus explains. He pauses for a moment, and then continues.

"After we get the SD-card out of the warehouse, I will press the 'ignite' button. The building will almost instantly explode, so we need to be at a minimum of two miles away before the explosives go off. We should probably have a back-up plan, so I spent about an hour last night thinking this one up. If one of us happens to get captures, like last time, we continue the mission. We will have to make sure that the person who gets captures is out of the building before I push the 'ignite' button, but we continue on with the mission. No one is going to stop the mission this time. We are completing it, and if that means going on a rescue mission afterwards, then so be it." He pauses, making his tone final. I nervously let my eyes flicker around the room, to see that everyone else is doing the same. Seeming unconcerned by the silence in the room, Magnus continues.

"Now, that is one of the most unlikely outcomes of tomorrow, but that plan is just for emergencies. The night-guards on the next shift, will come to the warehouse at around 10:15pm, so we need to make sure that we have ignited the explosives, retrieved the SD-card, and are miles away by the time that they arrive. The building will be completely destroyed within five minutes of ignition, so there's no need to worry about Clave&Co trying to salvage anything from the wreckage." He types something into the laptop, before facing us again. "After we have vacated the premises, we will head to the airport. There, we will be catching the 10:30pm flight to Augusta, Maine. We'll meet up with the rest of the group at the airport, and from there we will split our different ways. Will, Jem, and Tessa are going to catch a flight to London, Seb and Aline will be staying in Paris at the Institute, and the rest of us will be going onto the fight to Maine. After we arrive in Augusta, Maine, we will have to rent a car and drive out to Jon and Clary's lighthouse. There, we'll basically lay low for a little while and contact Headquarters. We will need to send Simon's group to the airport with our stuff, but other than that, we'll be all set." He finishes. We are all silent for a while, just absorbing this new information. Jon finally gets up off of the bed again and walks to the front of the room.

"So, I guess that that's it. The plan for tomorrow is that we're going to basically do exactly what we have just spent the past two hours discussing." He says with a shrug. "Now Magnus, Alec, Clary, and Jace have to go to the store, so everyone get out." He orders, motioning towards the door. Everybody gets up and walks slowly towards the door, while Jace and I stay behind with Jon.

He looks at me briefly, before face-planting onto his bed. He stretches his hands out above his head, letting me get a glimpse of a golden piece of metal on his finger. I walk over to the bed and hesitantly pick up his hand. Resting on his ring finger is the Morgenstern ring, the 'M' standing out on his pale skin. He looks up at me from his position curiously, only to realize what I'm looking at. He sits up straight and makes me sit down next to him. I am vaguely aware of Jace exiting the room, probably to go get Magnus, while I study my brother's ring. I smile slightly at the memory of getting mine.

"You still wear this?" I ask softly, brushing my thumb over the top of the ring. He nods slightly with a smile on his face.

"Of course I do. It's all that I have left of them." He states, sounding sad. I wrap my arms around his large form and he reciprocates the motion. We sit there for a moment, reliving our memories in silence, before Jon pulls away slightly. "I haven't seen you wear yours ever since Mom and Dad died." He says casually, pulling completely away from me. I swallow thickly and look back down at the ring.

"It hurts too much to have them with me all of the time. I literally want to cry every time that I look at mine." I confess, my voice barely above a whisper. Jon's face softens and he wraps an arm around my shoulders.

"I know. But that was years ago, Clare. You might want to take a look at it now." He reasons, voice as quiet as mine. I nod, but he doesn't seem to notice, because he continues speaking. "Where is your ring anyway?" he asks curiously. I look up at him, studying his features, before answering.

"It's at the lighthouse, in my box." I say, as if that one sentence should explain everything. Apparently it does, because Jon nods softly and pulls me tighter to him.

"Okay. When we get there, I want you to get your box out and think about wearing it again." He states plainly, but something I his voice tells me that there is more to that simple sentence than he is letting on. I pier up at him, but his face gives nothing away. I sigh and nod reluctantly. This seems to please him enough, because he grins down at me. "Great. Now, I am almost positive that you have a date with a flamboyant man, his boyfriend, and _'Giallo', _so get your little ass out there, missy." He states while standing, pulling me up with him, and pushing me towards the door. I make my way to the door, but turn around to face Jon one more time before leaving. He is laying face-down on his bed, and I can't help but roll my eyes at his behavior. I open the door and walk into the hallway, where Alec, Magnus, and Jace are patiently waiting for me.

"Bye, Jon." I call out to him, before closing the door and facing the boys. "Ready?" I ask no one in particular. Magnus grins at me, a grin that would make the Cheshire cat jealous, and starts pulling Alec towards the elevator.

"Absolutely. Now, let's go shopping." He exclaims, right as the doors '_ding_' open. I roll my eyes, along with Jace and Alec, but get onto the elevator all of the same.

"We're supposed to be buying supplies for the mission, Magnus. Not going shopping." I chastise teasingly. He waves a glittery hand in my direction.

"Same thing." And with that, we are whisked away towards the lobby.

**Time Jump**

We walk through another isle in the store. Magnus wouldn't give us the list of things that we have to get, so Alec, Jace and I have been trailing him like lost puppies for about an hour. I swear that he is just getting random things to waste our time. _Like seriously, rainbow-duct-tape isn't an essential item for our mission._ He stops again and we almost bump into him. He leans down and picks up a can of gasoline, and then proceeds to take _forever_ reading the label. I sigh loudly, and soon enough Jace and Alec join in.

"Sigh."

"Sigh."

"Sigh."

We end up verbally saying the word 'sigh', and Magnus looks like he's about to explode. He spins towards us, completely over our little charade, and points towards the front of the store.

"Leave. I will finish shopping on my own." He orders us, using his best scary-calm voice. Jace swallows heavily, and then he and Alec are pulling me towards the front door. Once we are outside, we find a bench to wait on and I lean against Jace.

"Why did you guys look like he was going to murder you back there?" I ask curiously. Alec pales considerably and Jace looks around, like he's paranoid.

"Magnus… tends to like glitter, as you know. The last time that we annoyed him, I had glitter stuck in places that glitter should _never _be; _for weeks."_ He mock-whispers dramatically, he even shudders to add effect. Alec hugs his arms around himself and starts rocking back and forth, causing me to burst out laughing. They are quiet for a moment, before joining in.

That is how Magnus finds us when he exits the store just minutes later, laughing hysterically. He rolls his eyes at us and motions for us to follow him, but doesn't utter a single word to anyone. Jace and I exchange a look, but follow silently. Magus starts towards the limo and then climbs inside. I notice that he is carrying a small plastic bag, but it looks remotely empty. _What happened to all of the items that we just spent the past hour gathering, _I think incredulously. When we are in the car, I decide to ask him about it.

"Hey, Magnus, what happened to the rest of the stuff?" I ask cautiously. _I'm not planning on getting smothered with glitter anytime soon._ He shrugs and looks out of his window.

"All of that was just personal wants." He states, while reaching into the lone plastic bag. He proudly shows us one roll, _one single roll, _of rainbow-duct-tape. We all stare incredulously at the grinning sparkle-king, who just winks at us and turns back to his window. Alec seems to come out of his initial shock first and groans into his hands. Jace however, isn't that quiet. He glares at Magnus, but just as he is about to open his mouth to lecture him, Magus sits rim-rod straight in his seat.

"Stop the car." He commands the driver. After the vehicle has stopped, he jumps out of the limo and starts running down the street. We all stare after him and see his running form disappear behind an old dumpster. Alec gets up to go after him, but as he is about to exit the car, Magnus reappears again. Only this time, he is holding a furry object I his arms. We watch, completely stupefied, as he gets back into the limo, tells the driver to drive again, and starts petting the pile of fur. I watch with wide eyes as it moves in his arms. Alec looks at Magnus in concern for a moment, before hesitantly pointing at said pile of fur.

"What the hell is that?" he asks, curious, but kind of scared of the answer. Magnus looks up at him, smiling brightly. He picks the pile of fur up and reveals a gray and black-striped cat.

"This, my dear friends, is Chairman Meow." He announces proudly. Jace and I stare at him, clearly questioning his sanity, while Alec frowns at the cat.

"Okay," he drags out the vowels. "Why did you feel the need to catch 'Chairman Meow'?" he asks carefully. Magnus looks at Alec lovingly, before glancing back down at 'Chairman Meow'.

"I felt a disturbance in the force." He states sarcastically, but backpedals when Alec glares at him. "Okay, Okay. I just felt like getting a cat. Besides, he could be like our baby." Magnus coos to the cat. It purrs and then promptly falls asleep in Magnus' lap. Alec slowly nods.

"Okay, I guess." He reluctantly agrees, causing Magnus to kiss his cheek and him to blush. Jace snickers beside me, successfully bringing my attention from the cat.

"It could be their _love-child_." He whispers quietly into my ear, causing me to giggle into my hand. Magnus looks up from his and Alec's 'love-child'.

"What's so funny?" he asks innocently. I shake my head at him, but start laughing with Jace again.

**So, there's another chapter. Enjoy! Sorry if this chapter was boring. It is, yet again, needed for the story to fall into place. The next chapter will be **_**Action-packed,**_** though.**

**Cassandra Clare owns all… except for the plot and my ideas. :)**

**Thanks for all of the positive feedback. :)**

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	21. Ignition

_Clary POV_

A low beeping disturbs me from my sleep. I groggily let my eyes flutter open, only to come face to face with my phone. The screen is lit up and it is vibrating, so I turn off my alarm. I slowly sit upright, noticing that Izzy is still asleep. I yawn while slightly nudging her shoulder with my hand.

"Izzy, wake up." I mumble, still half-asleep. She groans loudly and turns over to face the other side of the room. I roll my eyes, suddenly feeling a little more awake. "Come on, get your ass up." I complain, while sliding out of the warm bed. I walk into the bathroom with my brows furrowed. _Why are we up so early again? _

Then, suddenly it clicks. Today we're going to be blowing up the warehouse and retrieving the SD-card. I let out a shaky sigh, and then face the mirror to address my current state. My hair is still some-what in its pony-tail, but most of it lies limply around my face. I scowl and start working on my mess of curls.

About 10 minutes later, I am walking back into the room; hair in a neat side-braid and looking now fully awake. Izzy is now up and is pulling out several items from her suitcase. I walk over to mine, which is underneath of the window, and start pulling out my gear. I open the curtains, to see that it is still dark. I glance at the clock on the bedside table incredulously. 5:00 am. _Why the hell did we agree to let Jon dictate when we start preparing for the mission? _I shake my head slightly, but go back to pulling out my gear. I am vaguely aware of Izzy walking into the bathroom to change her clothing while I dig through my suitcase, so when I find my gear, I just start dressing in the room.

After I am dressed, Izzy comes back out of the bathroom. My eyes widen slightly at her outfit. She is dressed in a low-cut red dress that barely brushes the tops of her thighs. I look at her incredulously, but she doesn't seem to notice as she starts strapping guns to her thighs. I clear my throat and go back to pulling out my weapons.

"Izzy," I start cautiously. She lifts her head up to look at me with expectant eyes. "What are you wearing?" I venture carefully, as not to offend her. She just stares at me for a moment, before rolling her dark eyes.

"I'm dressing for the part, duh." She exclaims, finishing strapping guns to her thighs and moves on to tuck knives inside of her boots; which might I add are knee high and have 5 inch heels on them. I slowly shake my head at her, not comprehending what the 'part' is. She looks at me like I'm stupid; causing me to narrows my eyes at her. _I'm not stupid._ "I have to 'seduce' the night-guards tonight, remember?" she asks me, like I should already know that that automatically means that she has to dress up like a hooker. I decide to give her the benefit of the doubt though, and slowly nod.

"Oh, right. Okay I get that, but why are you dressing up now? We have to go to the warehouse at like 9:30 _tonight._ You'll have _hours_ later today to get dressed like that." I say, still not understanding her motives. At this she grins evilly at me, a devilish glint to her eye.

"This is simply me getting payback at your brother for last night." she states casually, but I can detect a hint of loathing in her tone. _Shit, Jon. What did you do to her? _I furrow my brows, but almost immediately remember last night.

You see, after we got home from the store, and brought Magnus' new cat, Jon and Izzy were both in his room. Izzy looked completely flustered, while Jon had a cocky smirk plastered on his face. When we entered the room, Jon quickly stood up from the bed and subtly wiped his hand on his pants, before coming to over to us to inspect the items. Everyone, except for me that is, forgot that Izzy was still in the room. Still blushing a bright crimson and discretely exiting before I could question her. I shudder in realization of what must have been going on. Izzy winks at me when I show some signs of understanding, but all that I a picturing is my brother's hands.

"Ew!" I exclaim, completely grossed out. She nods at me and goes back to her weapons.

"I know, but I'll be the one laughing now. Especially when he has to keep readjusting himself throughout the day." She says, smiling maliciously at me. I manage a laugh, but it comes out weak because my head is still filled with images of my brother. I shudder again, but start strapping knives and guns around my thighs.

"I hope that you get him back. Knowing him, he most likely deserves it." I state factually, truthfully voicing my opinion. Izzy smiles secretly to herself.

"Nah, he doesn't deserve it." She tries to amend her earlier words. "But that doesn't mean that I'm not going to go through with it. He's going to get what's coming to him." She adds as an afterthought, seeing my disbelieving look. I smile widely at her, finish strapping on my weapons, and then join her at the door.

"Great. I'll look forward towards my endless amusement." I say with a grin, before we walk out of our door and head towards Jon and Jace's room.

**Time Jump**

I collapse onto the bed, completely exhausted. We have just finished with planning and preparing for tonight and everyone is dead-tired. _I guess that's what getting up early does to you. Never. Again. _It's around 4:00pm, so we have been working for around 11 hours. We, of course, stopped for lunch, but we have otherwise been working none-stop.

I am currently laying face-down on Jon and Jace's bed. I feel the bed dip next to me, but I am too lazy to lift my head up and see who it is. A hand runs over my hair, which has been taken out of its braid by Jace at some point, and gently glides down over my spine. The hand stops right below my shoulder-blades, and then repeats the process. After the fourth or fifth time, I turn my head towards the hand's owner. Jace smiles sweetly down at me with tired eyes.

"Hey." He says softly. I sigh slightly when he removes his hand from my head and turn over to fully face him.

"Hi." I mumble quietly, causing Jace to chuckle.

"You're tired. You should sleep until we have to leave." He states, like it's the simplest thing in the world. I nod slowly, but my response gets cut off by Jace pulling my further up the bed and onto his chest. I chuckle at his eagerness, and lightly kiss him on the cheek.

"Okay. Night." I say sarcastically, causing his chest to vibrate with laughter. I lay my head back down onto his chest; more like into the crook of his neck, and close my eyes. He kisses my head lovingly and then, with a slight smile on my face, I let the darkness carry me away. _Or temporarily anyway…_

**Time Jump**

I wake up again, for the second time that day, to a low beeping. I groan and try to bury my face deeper into the warm object that I am being securely held to. It suddenly vibrates and I pause. _What the hell…_ I slowly lift my head off of the object, to see Jace biting his lip to try to stifle his laughter from erupting out of his chest. I lift an eyebrow at him groggily, causing his to start laughing quietly.

"What?" I mumble, trying to sit up but being held down by Jace's arms. He clutches me tighter to his chest and tries to stop laughing. About a minute later, he quiets down and pulls me up to sit upright next to him.

"You just," he starts, only to stop and take a breath, before continuing. "I sat here trying to wake you up for like 10 minutes ad when my cellphone rings, you decide to grace the world with your presence." He explains, only to start laughing immediately after. I chuckle at his amusement of the situation and try to escape his hold once more. He lets me get up off of the bed and follows suit. I glance at the clock that is next to the bed, and it reads 8:00. I quickly smooth a hand over my hair and turn towards Jace, who is texting, while walking towards the bathroom.

"Rossa, you should probably go get your stuff ready to bring to the airport. We won't have time to come back after we finish at the warehouse, so you'll have to send your suitcase with Simon and them." He calls to me, and I immediately start towards the door.

"Okay. See you later, Giallo." I say, before shutting the door and stepping out into the hallway. I head to my room and quickly start gathering my things.

Once I have done that, I grab Bat and head back out into the hallway. Everyone is gathered around the elevator, so I quietly walk over to Izzy.

"How'd your plan go?" I ask curiously, causing her to chuckle.

"He had to 'take care of things' as soon as we were done preparing. It was very amusing and I hope that he has learned his lesson." She informs me, while grinning secretly at Jon. He looks at her nervously and glances the other way as soon as he sees her grin. She laughs quietly into her hand and I join in. Loud footsteps sound through the hallway, drawing our attention towards the sound. Alec enters, chasing none other than Chairman Meow. He runs after the cat, trying to catch him, but the Chairman runs towards me. I squat down and pick him up, causing him to cuddle into my chest. Alec glares at the cat before meeting my eyes.

"I've been trying to get that damn cat for over an hour, and he just lets you pick him up?" he asks incredulously, causing our group to chuckle. I hand the Chairman over to him right as Magnus emerges from their room. He drags several suitcases, all sparkly and bedazzled, towards the group gracefully. He smiles widely at Chairman Meow and holds his arms out for him. The cat jumps out of Alec's arms and into Magnus' swiftly, making Alec gasp and step back a little.

"There's my little cupcake." Magnus coos, setting the luggage down and caressing the small cat. Alec subtly glares at the Chairman, but busies himself with the suitcases that Magnus dropped. The doors of the large elevator open, and we all pile in. I end up having to be squashed against Jace, because there's not much room with all of our luggage. He doesn't seem to mind though; actually he is smirking down at me and holding me tighter to him. When the elevator finally 'dings', we all quickly get out of the enclosed box and head towards the limo.

Soon we are on our way to the airport, all nervously looking out of our windows or fidgeting in our seats. Jace laces his fingers through mine and gives them a reassuring squeeze. I smile a small smile at him and then look out of my window. The city passes in a blur and the airport is visible in the distance. Simon is typing something into his phone and is stopping every once in a while to look at the rest of the group. Finally, he puts his phone away and faces us.

"Okay, so we are all clear to go through security and everything. All that we have to do when you guys return from the warehouse, is board the plane. Just go through the gate that is on your tickets, and we'll be set to go." He explains quickly, while handing out tickets. I don't even glance at mine as I push it into one of my many pockets. I see that everybody else is doing the same, so I think nothing of it. _I'll just check it out later._

The limo pulls up to the airport and Simon, Maia, Aline, Tessa, Jem, and Alec all exit. They quickly gather up everyone's luggage, and then we are on our way out to the warehouse. Magnus pulls out a black-metal case and starts rummaging through its contents. After about five minutes, he looks up at the group and starts passing out small circular devises.

"Here, these are the explosives. They will stick to any substance, so just place them in the spots that I have told you to." He pauses and looks towards me and Jace. "You two are coming with me, so you don't need explosives. Just follow me towards the vault once we're inside, and then we'll be fine." He instructs us, and we have no option but to agree.

Everyone quiets down after that, and we all sit in a tense silence for the rest of the way to the warehouse. The warehouse is about 15 miles outside of Paris, so we have a small drive ahead of us. I lean my head against the window, close my eyes, and allow myself to think.

_We are going to the warehouse. Izzy is going to distract the night-guards while we take them out and then we are going to get to work. Jace, Magnus, and I will head towards the vault and retrieve the SD-card. Then, we'll meet up with everybody else and go back to the limo. When we're several miles away, Magnus will push the 'ignite' button and we'll be on our way to the airport. From there, we'll go to the lighthouse and basically camp out until Headquarters contacts us. _

I am brought out of my thoughts by the limo pulling to a stop. We are about quarter of a mile away from the warehouse. We're going to walk the rest of the way, just for security purposes. We all pile out of the limo and form a group around Jon. He looks into all of our eyes before speaking.

"Guys, we get in and we get out. Quick and clean. Nobody is getting captured this time." He states firmly, leaving no room for argument. We all nod in agreement, and then start walking towards the large warehouse up ahead.

Soon, we are approaching the entrance of the warehouse. Izzy automatically struts up to the two guards that are posted by the door. They each have shotguns and are standing at attention. We all hide behind the corner and wait for Izzy to distract them. They immediately perk up when she comes into view and one lifts his gun up slightly.

"This is private property." The one with the gun states harshly. Izzy just shrugs with a flirtatious smile taking over her features. She walks towards the guard that hasn't lifted his gun yet and winks at him.

"I'm sorry. I got lost on my way to my friend's house and I was just looking for directions." She states, while smiling hopefully at the guard. The one with the gun lowers his weapon back to his side and seems to get his head out of his ass.

"Sorry, ma'am. I was just doing the requirements." He states with a charming smile and extends his hand towards Izzy. She slyly grins in his direction, and Jordan chooses that moment to take them out. His gun has a silencer on it, so all that I hear is two small 'puff's and then the guards drop to the ground.

Izzy waves us over and we quickly enter the building. We split off into our teams, and then Jace, Magnus, and I are running towards the vault. Two more guards are standing in front of the door, so we have to sneak around the shelves and take them out. Magnus does the duty, and then motions for Jace and I to move forward. We quietly make our way to the door of the vault and wait while Magnus types in the passcode. He swiftly keys in the code, and then we are slipping through the door.

Magnus makes sure to prop open the door slightly before it shuts on us, before joining Jace and I in the front of the large vault. He sighs deeply and then takes out a small container. He opens it to reveal white powder and he dumps it into his palm. He forcefully blows the powder into the air, showing us exactly where the lasers are. Jace looks to me briefly and nods towards the SD-card that is in the middle of the room. I start moving without responding and quickly weave through the lasers. These aren't like your lasers that are in all of the spy movies; these will just detect Clave&Co and will basically guarantee our capture. _Yay. _

I look around the small island that is smack-dab in the middle of the vault, and find a small button on the under-side of the glass covering-case. I press it and the lasers immediately disappear. Jace and Magnus quickly walk over to where I am and point their flashlights at the SD-card's glass case. They take position on each side of the glass square and start lifting it. I vaguely take notice of Jace's muscles straining from the weight of it, but try to focus on the matter at hand. When the case is up just high enough, I quickly grab the SD-card and place it gently into the container that Magnus gave me yesterday. The container closes securely and by the time that I look back up at the boys, they have the glass covering back onto its holder.

We quickly high-tale it out of there, and soon we are waiting at the entrance for the others. Eventually Jordan, Will, Seb, and Izzy all join us. Now, all that we have to wait for is Jon. After about five minutes, I start to get worried. _He planned this out; he should be here by now. _I nervously glance around the warehouse, only to jump about two feet into the air when a loud alarm starts blaring. I start to panic and look towards Magnus for guidance. He doesn't help me much, because he is looking around about as lost as I am.

Suddenly, I hear gun shots going off and I pull out two of my 9mms. I see everyone else do the same in my peripheral, but start slowly walking towards the shots. I feel a strong hand grip my elbow, stopping me from further continuation. I quickly glance back, to see Jace's concerned face. He shakes his head swiftly at me.

"What are you doing, Rossa? Let's go. _Now."_ He tries to pull me towards the door again, but I am firmly planted on the ground.

"No." I shake my head stubbornly. "That's Jon in there. I have to." I state, almost desperately, before yanking my arm free of his grip and running towards the shots. I can faintly hear him calling my name, but I block him out. _Jon's in trouble._ I sprint through isles of shelving units, until I finally come out into a clearing of sorts. What I see almost has me in tears.

Jon is being handcuffed, almost unconscious, by six guards. Around 20 of them are roaming all over the clearing, checking out the pills and such. I inhale a shaky breath and try to think rationally. _Rational, my ass. That's Jon._ I trade out one of my 9mms for a throwing knife. _I can probably take one down to distract them, and then take out the guards around Jon._ I focus my gaze upon a single guard who is in the middle of the swarm of men, but just as I am about to throw it, Jon seems to become more aware.

He catches my eye and silently pleads with me. _'Don't do it. Get out. I'll be fine.' _I hesitate, but slightly nod towards his restrained form. _'Okay, be safe.'_ I reluctantly put my knife back in my boot, but keep my gun out. I start slowly backing up towards the exit of the isle, but I bump into something hard. Strong arms come around my arms and hold me in place.

"Ma, ma, qu'avons-nous ici?"_ (My, my, what do we have here?) _a sickly sweet voice inquires. I force myself to look up at the voice's owner. A man, no older than 50, stands directly behind me. His brown hair is streaked with gray and his gray eyes are unforgiving. I struggle to get out of his iron grip, but something else stops me.

Jon is looking me directly in the eye and hatred is clear in his eyes. Not aimed at me though, aimed at the guard that stands behind me. He starts struggling against the guards that hold him, and soon he is causing a huge commotion. The guard that's behind me is starting to loosen his grip. Jon's eyes start to communicate a new message. '_Run.' _And I do just that. I bring my foot down forcefully onto the guard's foot and drive my elbow straight into his face. He stumbles back and lets me go in surprise. I aim a punch at his temple, and then I am sprinting away from the scene. I look back at Jon one last time, to see him lock eyes with me and mouth _'I love you'_, before using my full speed and running for the others.

They are all still standing by the door, Magnus holding Jace back. As soon as I run into sight, Jace breaks free of his hold and takes me into a giant bear hug. I quickly hug him back, before facing the confused faces around me.

"Where's Jon?" Izzy asks cautiously, as if she is afraid of the answer. I sigh and blink back tears before answering.

"He got caught." I state simply, before leading them towards the entrance quickly. They all trail behind me with angry and incredulous looks plastered onto their faces.

"You're just going to leave him there?" Izzy yells angrily. I swallow thickly, while opening the door, before facing them.

"Look, I'm just as upset as you are. If not more, but we have to go._ Now_. He said that he'll be alright, and I trust him. I trust him with my life and all of yours, so you better all move your asses before I take them away." I cry frustrated, trying but failing to keep my temper at bay. They all stare at me with shocked expressions,_ Duh, you just threatened their lives,_ before following me obediently. I storm out of the warehouse, trying to cool down, and run towards the limo. The driver has moved it closer to the building to make it easier for us to leave. I throw open the door and sit towards the front, where nobody sits. Everybody quickly piles in after me, and soon we are just waiting for the guards to take Jon out of the warehouse.

Not even five minutes later, about 20 guards escort Jon out of the building; bloody and beaten. I suck in a breath and start to tremble at his appearance. His scalp has blood running down one side of his face and his lip is split. He's limping and appears to have trouble concentrating on where he is walking. I press both hands onto the window when he stumbles. The guards just push him harshly towards their car, and then he is in the car and out of my sight.

"Jon." I whimper lowly. I clench my jaw to try to keep the tears from spilling over, but one manages to escape. Jace notices, and pulls me tightly against his chest. I clutch at him for dear life, while Jon's captors take him away. I am vaguely aware of the limo starting to move, but I keep my face buried into Jace's shirt. He rubs small circles into my back and mutters soothing words into my ear as we drive towards the airport.

I finally come to a decision. _Stop being a pussy. Jon sacrificed himself for your safety; don't make him regret it. You can cry when you get to the lighthouse. _So, like the determined child that I am, I pulled myself together and drew back from Jace. He looks at me with concerned eyes, but I manage a small smile to reassure him of my stability. He smiles sadly down at me and drags me to his side again. I sigh and rest my head onto his shoulder, while he kisses my hair.

"I love you, Rossa." He murmurs quietly into my ear. I smile up at him and kiss his cheek.

"I love you too, Giallo." I whisper back, settling back down for the ride to the airport.

As much as I try, I can't stop my mind from wandering. Jon did the one thing that I never wanted to see again. He mouthed '_I love you'_ to me, before getting taken away. _Sound familiar? _I hold back a shudder at the memory of my mother doing that exact same thing before she died. _No. Jon promised not to leave you. He keeps his promises._ I manage to convince myself of that, and soon my mind is at peace. _At least for a while…_

**Hey, guys. So…Yeah. There's another chapter. Enjoy. :)**

**Cassandra Clare owns all… Except for the plot and my ideas. **

**Thanks for all of the positive feedback. :)**

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	22. the lighthouse

_Clary POV_

I vaguely see Magnus press the 'ignite' button on the control, once our limo and Jon's captor's cars are a few miles away. I look out of my window, to see a faint explosion in the distance. The night sky lights up with fire and smoke, causing me to slightly grin. _Serves those assholes right. _The smoke rises up into the dark sky, creating a foggy mess of the stars. Our limo is about three miles away now, so the fire is just barely visible.

We're driving towards the airport to catch our flight to Augusta, Maine. The others that are in our group are already at the airport, waiting for us. We're going to the lighthouse and are going to have to hide out for a while. Just thinking about the lighthouse makes my heart ache.

Jon should be with the rest of us; safe. Instead, he's being taken to god knows where by some idiotic Clave&Co guards. I blink rapidly to keep my tears at bay. _Hold it together, Clary. We'll get Jon back. _I sigh and lean my head against Jace's shoulder. He is staring solemnly out of the window, looking deep in thought. When I lean against him though, he seems to snap out of it and he wraps his arm around me tighter. He kisses the top of my head tenderly.

"It'll be alright, Rossa." He whispers into my hair. I smile faintly and take in deep breath. I nod slightly, but otherwise don't respond. I look around the dark limo, taking in everyone's appearances.

Magnus is sitting in a slouched position in his chair and is intently watching the far-away burning warehouse. Will and Seb are talking quietly, while also looking towards the distant warehouse. Jordan is holding Izzy in his arms, looking very uncomfortable. Izzy is sobbing quietly into the collar of Jordan's shirt, clearly upset about Jon getting caught. I sigh softly and detach myself from Jace. He looks at my quizzically, but nods slightly when I pointedly glance towards Izzy's crumbling form.

I slowly walk over to her and take Jordan's place, letting him sit somewhere else. He shoots me a grateful look and goes to join Jace on the opposite side of the limo. I carefully wrap my arms around her shaking frame and slightly rock her back and forth. This must look pretty peculiar to anyone else other than our group; seeing as how Izzy is the larger of the two of us. I try to push my thoughts into the back of my mind for now, and instead focus on the matter at hand. _Izzy._

"Sh. He'll be okay, Izzy." I say, desperately trying to stop her crying. It truly is painful to watch. Izzy is normally this really bubbly person, but seeing her cry almost makes _you_ want to cry. I can understand her pain, I mean _come on._ Jon's my _brother. _My _best friend, _but you don't see me crying. _Yet._ I roll my eyes internally at myself, but my attention is brought back to reality when Izzy finally settles down and just sniffles occasionally. I smile weakly at her in an attempt to console her, but I can tell that she sees through my façade. She does, however, manage to calm down enough to pull back from me and sit up straight.

"Thanks, Clary." She mumbles quietly, before magically getting a mirror and fixing her make-up. I roll my eyes at her and sit back in my seat.

"No problem." I say quietly, before closing my eyes and slipping into my own mind.

_Jon has always been there for me. He's always looked after me and protected me, but the one time that I need to return the favor, he doesn't allow me to. I feel like I've completely let him down, even though he told me to 'run'.___I sigh and try to focus on what I have to do after we get to the airport. Just as I'm about to slip back into my thoughts though, the limo pulls to a stop. I open my eyes and look out of my window, seeing that we're already at said airport. I groan quietly, but follow the rest of the group out of the limo.

When my feet are firmly planted on the sidewalk, Jace laces his fingers through mine and pulls me along towards the entrance. I numbly follow, still focusing on getting to the lighthouse so that I can finally break down. Our small group makes its way into the large airport, and soon we're walking swiftly towards our gate. Once we enter the terminal, we immediately spot Simon's group. They're set up in a couple of chairs that surround our gate. Our group joins theirs and we take our seats. Simon almost immediately brings me into a hug and I cling to him for dear life.

"I'm so sorry, Clary. We'll get Jon back. I promise." He vows, talking into my hair so that his voice is muffled. I take in a deep breath to ward off my oncoming tears, before nodding and pulling away.

"I know." I state, trying to convince myself that Jon's fine and that we'll get him back soon. Simon smiles sadly down at me, kisses my forehead, and then joins the group again. We were standing slightly away from everybody else, so I walk over to the group and stand by Jace. He wraps his arms around my form and pulls me flush against his chest, my back to his chest. I sigh tiredly and lean back against him, before tuning into the group's conversation.

"No. He got caught while trying to meet us at the entrance. Some sort of security laser must have been triggered while we were trying to hook up the explosives." Jordan explains, looking toward the ground and shaking his head slightly. Maia walks up to him and wraps her arms around his waist. He slightly relaxes and leans into her. He sighs, deeply troubled. "We should've never agreed to let him go off alone. The building would've blown up either way. It didn't matter if one of the explosives was placed closer to the entrance." he mumbles quietly, his tone laced with regret. Magnus shakes his head at Jordan.

"No, I don't think that the building would. Explode, I mean. That part of the warehouse was completely made of metal. It would need its own individual blast to go up in flames. Jon did the right thing. We just didn't go over their entire security system close enough, apparently." Magnus tries to ease Jordan's conscious. It appears to work, but only slightly. Jordan nods, and then a voice blares out over the intercom.

"Tous les passagers pour le vol 10h30, s'il vous plaît rapport à la porte D-16." _(All passengers for the 10:30 flight; please report to gate D-16.) _A woman's voice says loudly over the speakers. I look around at our group, and notice that we're pretty much the only ones that are going to be on this flight. We all stand up and start towards the entrance to the plane. Will, Jem, and Tessa all say goodbye, and then they are heading towards their London flight. The 11 of us that are remaining keep walking until we're at the large square-tunnel's entrance. Seb and Aline both say a brief goodbye, and then the nine of us are walking through the tunnel.

Soon, I am being lead to my seat by Jace. He lets me sit by the window, but I don't really notice. Truthfully, I'm till numb; almost in shock. I guess that my mind can't exactly wrap around Jon being captured, so I am trying to convince myself that he never was. I settle down into the small seat, trying to get comfortable. Jace does the same, before wrapping his arms around me and pulling me to him. We're sitting in the first-class section again, so he slides the armrests up and scoots over towards me. He crushes me to his chest, and I have to take another deep breath to keep from crying right then and there. Jace notices and hugs me even tighter to his form.

"It's okay to cry, Rossa. Just let it out." He whispers into my ear as the flight attendant starts going over the safety protocols.

I try to hold back my tears, but they come anyway. I bury my face into Jace's shirt and try to stop them before I start sobbing uncontrollably. He just rubs small circles into my back and whispers calming things into my ear. I am vaguely aware of the plane moving, but my eyes start to get heavy and soon I am blinking rapidly to try to stay awake. Jace notices and kisses the top of my head.

"Don't fight it. Go to sleep. We'll be there soon enough." He mumbles quietly, adjusting me so that I am laying my head of his chest. I give in and snuggle up to his side, letting his warmth lull me into unconsciousness.

**Time Jump**

I am startled out of my dreams, by a familiar voice whispering into my ear.

"Rossa, wake up. We're here." It whispers sweetly. I hum tiredly and try to roll away from the voice, only to be held in place by warm arms. I half-assedly try to push them off of me, but they just stay put so I give up and settle back down. The voice chuckles lowly, and then I feel soft lips press against my forehead. I allow my eyes to flutter open, only to see Jace smiling down at me sleepily.

"Hey." He greets quietly, brushing some fallen strands of hair out of my face. I smile weakly up at him and sit up straight, so that I'm no longer lying on top of his chest.

"Hi." I mumble groggily. I lightly run my fingers through my hair and look out of my window.

I see city lights glowing brightly beneath of the plane and the sky is dark. The plane is moving closer to the lights, and I notice that the seatbelt light is on above me. I double-check mine, not that I needed to because I never took it off, and then sit up straight. I look towards Jace again, who is stretching his arms above his head and yawning. He catches my eye and grins, a little more awake this time.

"The pilot said that we'll be landing in a few minutes, so I had to wake you up. Sorry." He explains sheepishly. I grin back at him and shake my head.

"Don't apologize. Did you get any sleep?" I inquire curiously. He nods and leans his head back against the seat, closing his eyes.

"Yeah, I actually just woke up before you." He mumbles, grabbing my hand and lacing our fingers together with his eyes still closed. I nod and lean my head back against the headrest.

"Okay." I murmur back, closing my eyes briefly. Jace squeezes my hand tighter and I feel his lips against my cheek.

"Don't go back to sleep. We're almost there." He commands softly, forcing me to open my eyes again. I nod and stifle a yawn into my hand.

Soon enough, the plane is stopped outside of our gate and we are walking through the terminal. Jace and I lead our group through the airport and into several different taxis. I give all of the drivers the directions to the lighthouse, and then I settle down in my seat for the drive. Jace and I are sharing a taxi with Alec and Magnus. Jace, Magnus, and I in the back and Alec sitting up front. I lean my head against Jace's shoulder, since I am in the middle, and try to collect my cool before we arrive at the lighthouse.

_We're in Augusta, Clary. You have exactly 45 minutes to get your shit together. Stop being a dipshit, and man up. Jon will be fine. When we get to the lighthouse, you'll show everyone to their rooms, because it's about 3:00am, and then when you are safely situated in your room, you are allowed to break down. Then and only then. _I say to myself internally. I am so transfixed on not being a wimp, that I don't notice that Jace is talking to me. I look up at him, dazed, and lift an eyebrow.

"Uh, sorry. What did you say?" I ask sheepishly. He playfully rolls his eyes at me and smiles softly down at me.

"I asked how long it will be until we're there." He says, twirling a stray strand of my hair around his finger. I smirk secretly to myself at how adorable he is and look at the dashboard of the taxi. The time reads 3:30. _Wow, I must've been thinking over my pre-mental-breakdown longer than I thought. _I glance back at Jace, who is wearing an expectant look on his face.

"About 15 minutes. Not too much longer." I reassure him and his cheek. He smiles at me and goes to catch my lips with his, but is interrupted by a voice.

"Like, could you _not_?" Magnus demands. We look over at him, to see that he is dramatically gagging. "I mean, I'm like _right here_. I think that Jacey-poo can wait to devour your face until we're at the lighthouse." he cries, drawing the attention of Alec and the cabbie to us. I have to bite my cheek to force myself not to flush bright red, but Jace just smirks proudly at Magnus. _Like the smug bastard that he is. _

"I'm almost positive, that you would enjoy watching me devour her." He states nonchalantly, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and poking Magnus in his cheek with his finger. Magnus scowls fiercely, but his response is cut off by a low, raspy voice.

"Knock it off, will ya'? I'm tryin' to drive!" the cabbie demands, glaring at Jace. Jace settles back down into his seat, but I can almost feel his devilish smirk radiating off of his face. I slightly nudge him with my elbow and he whips his head towards me. He has fixed his features into those of betrayal. He eyes practically scream '_traitor', _causing me to grin at him. I wink cheekily at him and lean my head back against my seat. I close my eyes, hoping to get to the lighthouse soon so that I can properly allow myself to breakdown.

Exactly 15 minutes later, our cab is pulling up to the large lighthouse. We all shuffle out of the car, pay the cabbie, and then we start towards the front doors. I retrieve the key from above the door and unlock the large faded-blue door. I usher the three boys into the house, and then start towards the generator. I walk into the small room that is underneath of the spiral-staircase and bring out my phone for light. I hold the light up and point it around the room, until it comes to rest onto the large generator that sits in the corner. I smile slightly at the memory of my father teaching Jon and I how to start it, but my smile quickly slips off of my face when I remember just where Jon is right now. _Don't think about that right now. You have different priorities that are present. For example, getting the generator started._

I start working on the old hunk of metal, and soon the lights come on in the small room. I smile, proud of my accomplishment, and then head back out to where Alec, Jace, and Magnus are. I wander into the remotely large kitchen and find them all sitting around the large oak table, talking quietly. I creep up silently behind them and stomp really loudly when I am right behind them. They all jump and spin around to face me. I see them all let out a relieved breath, confusing me.

"Thank god that it's just you. I thought that this place was really haunted for a second." Magnus exclaims exaggeratedly. I snicker at the possibility of my only existing home left being _haunted._ They all glare at me, but seem to notice that the lights are on and soften their looks.

I spin around and walk over to the window by the kitchen sink. The road that leads back into town is being lit up by another pair of headlights, so I immediately know that the others are here. I slightly see them get out of their taxi and start making their way up to the lighthouse, so I turn towards the boys.

"Can one of you go open the door for the others?" I ask, completely over-sugar-coating it. Jace rolls his eyes at me, but still gets up and walks towards the entryway. I smile to myself and turn back towards the sink. I experimentally try the tap, to find that water actually comes out of it. I let it run for a while before taking a drink. _Crystal-clear. Just like always. _I hear the others amble into the kitchen, so I turn around and face them. They all wear faces of curiosity and wariness. I chuckle under my breath, before walking over to the large spiral-staircase. Seven pairs of confused eyes follow me, causing me to turn around and face them.

"You guys can stay here. I'll go make sure that all of the rooms are okay to be slept in and turn the lights on. Just so that you know, this place isn't haunted." I reassure them. I turn around again and start heading up the stairs, but get an evil idea before I am out of their cautious sights. "Be careful though. The spirits of my elders don't like to be bothered. Especially at night." I call back mysteriously. I stifle my laugh into my hand and hurry up the steps.

The lighthouse is two stories tall, has twelve bedrooms, six bathrooms, and then there is the light-tower; _or the loft as I like to call it_. I walk down the wide hallway that divides the bedrooms and make my way to the room at the end of the hall. Now, I know what you're probably thinking, '_That sounds a lot like a horror film', _but the lighthouse has a light and home-y feel to it. _Regardless of my friends' opinions. _I open the door, revealing another, smaller spiral-staircase. I briskly make my way up the stairs, and then I am standing in the loft. I smile softly at all of the photos that decorate the walls of the outer-shell of the large light. I power on the rotating light and take a seat on the old bench that is placed by the door.

Jon and I used to come up here often. You can almost see our younger selves playing, receiving our rings, sleeping in old comforters, planning our futures. We used to be each other's only companions during the summer, besides Simon. He would come up to the lighthouse with us every summer, when Jon and I's parents would take us up here for two months. We would explore the shoreline and bury treasure almost every day. Simon was Jon and I's only friend for a long time; up until Jon met Jordan, and then we kind of had our own friends after that.

I bring my knees up to my chest and hug them to me on the bench. One single tear slides down the flat planes of my face and drops onto my jacket sleeve. I look down at my attire, remembering that I'm still in my gear. I stiffly stand up again ad walk over to the large wooden chest that has been scooted into the corner of the room. The rotating light makes shadows appear on the walls when it passes me, creating the illusion of monsters. I smile softly at the memories of me and Jon creating shadow-creatures, while kneeling down by the chest. I hesitantly open its big latch, revealing tons of items that have been forgotten through the years of trying to forget this place.

When my parents died, I was angry. I stopped wearing my Morgenstern ring, locked it up in this old lighthouse along with all of my photos of my parents and every single good memory from my childhood. I pull out the one item that I placed into this chest that I have regretted for years. My box. _My box that holds my Morgenstern ring…_

**So, yeah. There's another chapter. Enjoy. :)**

**Cassandra Clare owns all… Except for the plot and my ideas. :)**

**Thanks for all of the positive feedback. :)**

**Review&Follow**


	23. The Ring

_Clary POV_

I carry the box downstairs with me and set it down onto the kitchen table. I momentarily forget that the others are still there, and they all eye the box curiously. Izzy steps towards it first and reaches a hand out to touch it.

"What's that?" she asks warily, snapping her hand back to herself when I hastily gather the box into my own hands again. I shrug and walk towards the sink, as to wash off the dirt and dust from outside of the box.

"Nothing. Just some old memories from my childhood that Jon told me to look at when I got here." I state casually, only to have regret bleed into my features as I hear Izzy's sharp intake of breath. I take in a slow breath to calm my emotions, before turning around and facing the group again. "It just has some old trinkets and things like that in it; nothing important." I say quietly, trying to play off the thought of Jon as unconcerned. Jace notices a break in my façade though, and comes over to me and wraps me up in his arms. I relax and lean back into his warmth momentarily. He really just knows what I need, even before and if _I_ know that I need it. _Amazing. _I let my eyes flutter shut and take a deep breath, before straightening up and looking around the group.

Everyone is either seated at a chair surrounding the large kitchen table, or is leaning against a wall. Their faces express the fatigue that is getting to them and their eyes are drooping dangerously low. Simon is slouching on the table with his head buried into his arms, almost completely asleep. I sigh and walk towards the stairs, gathering all of their attention.

"We'll talk tomorrow. You all look like death-warmed-over. Get some sleep, shower, do what you want. I'm going to go to sleep, so just come get me if you need anything." I state tiredly, before slowly making my way up the stairs again. I hear chairs squeak and slide against the floor, and soon several pairs of feet pound up the stairs after me. When I reach the top of the spiral-staircase and am walking through the hallway towards my old bedroom, a thought strikes me like lightning. I turn back to the rest of the group, who are looking into the open doorways of the many bedrooms throughout the hallway, and lean against my room's doorframe. "Do you guys want any food? I mean, if you do, I can order pizza or something?" I inquire unsurely, not used to having guests to take care of. To my relief though, all that I get are mumbles of declination and head shakes. I sigh, nod, and then walk into my room fully. "Choose whichever rooms you want; just not the one at the end of the hall. That's not a room." I call out, and then close my own door to get ready for sleep.

I drag my exhausted body over to the bed and plop myself down, only to get a knife handle dug into my side. I groan in frustration and harshly pull out the perpetrator. I glare at it menacingly, before throwing it forcefully at the closed door. A dull thump sounds through my room as the knife sinks into the antique wood, successfully satisfying me in my mini-fit of rage. I roll over onto my stomach and set the box down onto the mattress before me. The silver glints onto the surrounding objects as the moonlight shines through the open window. I gingerly sit up and look around the room; basking in the familiarity of its appearance.

Dull blue curtains surround the large window, a large bookcase decorates the relatively bare room, a faded blue bedspread that matches the curtains lays neatly underneath of me, and an old wooden door leads to the en-suite and the closet. I run my hand over the worn fabric beneath me, feeling the old but still soft material with my fingers. I sigh heavily at the memories trying to beat me down, but don't allow them to break through my walls. If I do, I'll never accomplish anything, and that can't happen.

_I need to focus. Get it together and try to focus._ I keep repeating that to myself as I stand from the bed and walk over to the en-suite. I open the old door and walk in. The bathroom is relatively large; containing a shower, sink, closet, toilet, and towel rack. I shut the door and walk over to the mirror that is placed above the sink.

My hair hangs limply around my pale face, my emerald eyes that usually hold so much fire are dull, and my lips are cracked from biting them repeatedly. My gear is wrinkled and hot, so I strip out of it quickly; leaving my in only a black tank-top and some underwear. I walk towards the shower, but immediately rethink showering. _I don't have spare clothing. The ones that are in the closet are from when I was like seven, so I'll look like an idiot. _I roll my eyes, as I pull back on the black skinny-jeans that o to my gear, and then walk back out of the bathroom. I make my way over to the door that leads back out into the hallway and slip through.

It is silent except for the occasional mumble coming from inside of the rooms, so I quietly make my way downstairs. I walk into the living room and spot our luggage. Some of the suitcases are gone, but most of them are still there. _The missing ones were most likely taken upstairs to their rooms by the smart people of the group; unlike you. _I internally roll my eyes and walk over to my suitcase. I spot Bat lying down on the floor by my case, but don't make a move to grab him. Chairman Meow lays curled up on top of his stomach and is sound asleep. _Aww, cute. I almost forgot about him. _I smile slightly at the small cat as I gather my suitcase and start dragging it up towards my room.

Soon enough, I am in the shower and letting my body relax. The warm water runs through my hair and washes out all of the sweat that I'm sure has collected there. I wash my hair with some of the shampoo that I stole from the hotel in Paris, before just standing underneath of the continuous stream of water. I close my eyes and lean back against the cool tile, trying to clear my head of all the nonsense that is usually there. I think about the mission; how it went down and how Jon got captured. I think about him sacrificing himself for me, even when I was trying to save _him._ I sink down to the ground, crouching low on the cold surface with my head resting on top of my knees. I think about anything and everything; from when I used to play with Jon, to when we talked a few days ago. I just sit there thinking for a while, before something occurs to me.

"_Okay. When we get there, I want you to get your box out and think about wearing it again." He states plainly, but something I his voice tells me that there is more to that simple sentence than he is letting on._

My eyes snap open wide and I hurriedly stand up. I turn the water off, step out of the shower, and head back into the bedroom; wrapping a towel around me as I go. I quickly get dressed into some overly large sweats and then I am sitting on the bed; the silver box placed in front of me. I take a deep breath and reach out for it. Suddenly I am wide awake, energy flowing through my veins like alcohol.

My fingers close around the lid of the box and pry it open. Dust still coats the top and sides of the metal, but the objects that are inside matter more to me than getting my hands a little dusty. I slowly tilt the lid back, causing it to squeak and groan from not being used, and then let it rest on the bed after it is completely open. My eyes immediately go to the black velvet box that sits underneath of several different objects. I slowly and carefully remove the pictures and different trinkets from on top of the small box, and then I gingerly lift it out of its place in the larger box.

The feeling of the velvet on my hands makes my eyes water slightly at the memory of my father giving this to me, but I blink rapidly and focus on the object that the velvet box is concealing. I am vaguely aware if my hand sliding the silver box out of the way on the bed so that I can open the velvet one, but my eyes are intently watching the small black box that is in my other hand. I set it down softly onto the bed, handling the object like a newborn, before lifting the lid of the box.

The first thing that I see is the glint of the gold metal. I take in the 'M' that is placed on the face of the ring, the stars that decorate the sides, the worn band that shows its age, and I take in the familiar feeling of an antique importance that only belongs to emotional objects. My throat tightens and a single tear slides down my face, as I lift the ring out of its box and hold it in my hand. So many memories are being held within this one single object, memories that I've tried to bury deep down but they won't go away. Memories that haunt my dreams and can explain why I am the way I am. They explain my childhood, the reason that I am not easily given to trusting people, and the reason that I have trouble making friends or even just opening up to strangers. I swallow back a sob and slide the ring onto my finger. It is still too big, but that's why I always wore it around my neck on a chain.

I must have just sat there staring at the ring for 15 minutes, before a soft knock sounded on my door. I furrow my brows and slide off of my bed. I walk over to the door, wiping at my face to remove any tears that might have escaped, and open it to reveal Jace. He leans casually against the doorframe and is inclining his head towards the ground, seeming deep in thought. His head snaps up to my face when I open the door and he smiles softly.

"Did I wake you?" he asks in a hushed tone, as not to bother the others. I shake my head and step back so that he can enter my room. He waltzes right in and then seats himself on the bed, patting the spot next to him for me to sit. I roll my eyes at him, but comply anyway. I look at him and quirk an eyebrow at his tired eyes.

"Why are you up still? Aren't you tired?" I ask softly, leaning my head against his shoulder. He shrugs slightly and wraps his arms around my waist; hugging me to his form. He places his chin on top of my head and I wrap my arms around his torso.

"Not really. I couldn't sleep; too awake to sit still." He mumbles quietly. I nod into his chest and lean back a little. He smiles slightly down at me, before something seems to catch his eye. "What's that?" he nods towards something over my shoulder. I furrow my brows and turn around, only to see that my box still lies open behind me. I sigh and shake my head slightly.

"Just some old memories." I say, slight exhaustion slipping into my tone. I see Jace nod and look down in my peripheral. He laces his fingers through mine and starts idly playing with mine. He plays with my fingers for a moment, but stops after he notices the ring that is still placed onto my middle finger. He frowns and brings my hand up to his eyes, looking at it with unhidden curiosity. He glances up to my face quickly before looking back down at the ring again.

"What's that? Is that Jon's?" he asks warily, unsure of my response. I shake my head and pull the ring off of my finger to hold up in front of us.

"Nah, this is mine. Jon has his own." I inform him, but keep my eyes trained onto the ring. He tilts his head to the side and looks more closely at the object that is being held before him.

"Why haven't I seen you wear it before?" he inquires curiously. I lower the ring to my lap and smile sadly down at it.

"I couldn't bare the pain of the memories after my parents died, so I locked it up in the loft." I say quietly, feeling horribly stupid at the moment. I sigh and shake my head at myself. "You'd think that I'd want to keep a part of them with me, but I just couldn't stand the pain. I locked everything of theirs up in the loft, except for Jon's ring. It was too hard to look at their things every day and know that they weren't ever going to come back. _I just wasn't strong enough_." I whisper, starting to feel ashamed for my on weakness. I feel Jace's hand gently grasp my chin and force my head up to look at his face.

"Don't ever say that you weren't strong enough. You are strong, you just chose to do what you thought was best for your emotions. There's nothing wrong with that. You are the strongest person that I know. Never doubt that." He explains softly but fiercely, unbidden truth laced though all of his features. I search his face for a lie, but even his eyes are so sincere that I have no other choice but to believe him. I nod and smile up at him weakly. He smiles down at me, although his is much brighter than mine, and kisses my forehead. I look up at his face again and smirk.

"You're amazing. You know that right?" I ask him, dead serious. He grins at me with childish glee and tackles me onto the bed, so that he is supporting himself over my body. He leans down and runs his lips over the pulse at my neck, causing me to suck in a breath.

"Yes. I know, but it doesn't hurt to hear it every once in a while." He whispers hotly against my skin, before continuing his path up my neck and planting soft kisses behind my ear. I let out a shuddering breath and wind my arms around his neck, pulling his face so that it's just inches from mine.

"Sometimes I get the feeling that you're _too_ full of yourself." I state teasingly. He smirks devilishly and moves his face closer to mine, so that his lips brush mine when he speaks.

"One is never too full of themselves. Being aware of my beauty is simply natural." He mumbles back teasingly, his eyes dark and playful. I roll my eyes at him, but my response is cut off by his lips capturing mine. I almost groan at the feeling, but instead tangle my fingers into his hair.

We kiss for a while, softly sometimes and passionately others, before we just end up lying down on the bed; arms around each other. The sun is starting to light the sky up through the window, letting us know that it is about 5:00am. I groan quietly and bury my face into Jace's chest, causing him to chuckle.

"I'm not getting any sleep today. Stupid sleep pattern." I mumble darkly, making Jace's chest to rumble even harder from laughter.

"You could always take a nap." He suggests unhelpfully. I shake my head and roll over, so that I am facing the ceiling.

"No, then I won't be able to sleep tonight. I'll just fight through it." I grumble, while sitting up. Jace mimics my motions, but completely stands instead of just sitting on the bed. He pulls me up to and walks towards the door.

"I'm starving. I'm going to go find some food." he states, opening the door and walking quietly out into the hallway. I roll my eyes and follow after him.

"There's no food here, so we'll have to call somewhere. Most places aren't open yet though. It's only like 5:00." I whisper to him as we descend the stairs. He smirks at me when we reach the bottom and walks over to the living room.

"I know, but there has to be a restaurant around here somewhere. Maybe even a grocery store." He shrugs, while slipping on his boots.

I take a minute while he's distracted to look over what he's wearing. Black sweatpants hang loosely on his hips, a black t-shirt that shows off his muscles nicely, and his golden hair is disheveled, but still manages to make him look sexy. I roll my eyes at myself internally. _Stop ogling. It'll make his head even larger than it already is. _I start pulling on my boots also, and soon we are making our way to the front door. Right before we leave though, I roll my eyes and start to back up.

"We need money, Giallo." I say, causing him to look up at me and grin. He reaches into the pocket of his sweatpants and pulls out a black wallet.

"Got it covered, Rossa." He states smugly, causing me to giggle at his pride.

"Okay, then I guess that we should go." I make a sweeping gesture towards the door, and then open it. He curtsies and flutters his eyelashes at me.

"Why thank you, kind sir. Little ol' me needs a nice man in my life." He says in a really high-pitched voice and a country accent, causing me to bite my lip to contain my laughter. I bow exaggeratingly low, before speaking.

"You're very welcome, miss." I state in a very deep masculine voice, making Jace's lip twitch with a smile but he contains it. We stare at each other for a long time, but right as we're about to burst out laughing, another voice sounds through the room; startling us.

"What happened to your voice, Clare?" the voice asks incredulously. I furrow my brows and look around the room, _there's nobody there._ I look towards Jace, who has gone deathly pale and is pointing down at my hand. All traces of humor leave my body when I glance down at my hand. My ring is shining and a holographic figure is shown suspended above the large 'M' that is on the face of the ring. I lift my hand up to my face unsteadily to inspect the figure, only to gasp at who it is.

"_Jon?"_

**Ta-da. There's another chapter. Sorry for the wait; I was sick. **

**Cassandra Clare owns all… Except for the plot and my ideas. :)**

**News:**

**I am thinking about starting another story. Yes, I will be continuing this story and will be finishing it. I just have all of these ideas in my brain and I need to set them free. *giggles nervously* **

**Anyway, back to the subject. It will be about being in a band. I really like all of the other stories that are about that subject, so I want to write my own. I already have the name and everything for it, but sadly it is not written yet.**

**Hopefully it'll be out within the next two months. :D**

**Thanks for all of the positive feedback. :)**

**Review&Follow**


	24. Racing and Rescuing

_Clary POV_

"So, what you are telling me is that _your ring can project a hologram of Jon_?!" Izzy cries in total disbelief. Jace and I both nod vigorously at her, trying to convince her that we're not mentally unstable.

"Yes. How many times do we have to say it? Yes!" Jace exclaims, completely over having to repeat himself.

_I should probably explain our predicament here, huh?_ Well, after we saw Jon's face coming out of my ring... things got a little crazy.

_(Flashback)_

_I stare down at my ring, completely not grasping the situation. I look up at Jace again and raise my eyebrows. He shrugs at my look and looks pointedly back down at my ring. Jon's face is floating above the large 'M' that is engraved onto the top of the object, only about an inch wide in length and a blue hue radiating off of the projection._

"_Clary. Clare, are you still with me?" Jon's voice asks. I seem to snap out of my trance momentarily and look at the hologram of my brother again._

"_Yeah?" I manage to squeak out, eyeing the ring that is still on my finger warily. Jon sighs with relief and smiles slightly at me._

"_Thank god. I almost thought that dad was crazy. I knew that it would work!" he exclaims underneath of his breath, while looking at me in awe. I slowly shake my head._

"_Jon? Is that you? What's going on?" I ramble out quickly, still not comprehending the situation entirely. He chuckles and widely._

"_Seriously, Clare? 'What's going on?' Is that all you have to say to your brother; who has just been captured by the 'bad-guys', might I add." He declares teasingly, causing me to roll my eyes at him._

"_Jon! Focus. How is this possible?" I ask, trying to get his full attention. I am vaguely aware of Jace leading me into the large living room and seating me down on the sofa, before Jon starts to speak again._

"_Now, before I start to explain, promise me that you won't be mad at me." He states, looking at my face intently. I force myself to nod and beg him with my eyes to continue. He sighs deeply and does as I silently ask. "Okay, so when I was ten, Dad brought me aside and explained the meaning of the rings. There is a reason that I never took mine off, Clare, and that reason is for this. If something ever, or as it has now, happened to me, you would have been able to contact me. Of course, it goes vise-versa, but the point is, is that you can find me. The rings have tracking devised imbedded into them, so all that you have to do is hook them up to a computer and they'll show you exactly where I am in the world. When Dad told me this, he never showed me how to use the holographic part. I guess that it's hooked up to our bodies like mood rings. So whenever you are looking for me, I'll show up on your ring. Dad also told me that these were for emergencies and to never use them unless it's a life or death situation, but I figured that this particular situation has enough qualification for me to contact you." He finishes with a breath, seeming to nervously watch my reaction to the new-found information. I nod slightly and turn towards Jace._

"_Go get everyone up. Tell them that it's urgent and that I'll come up there if they're not down here within the next ten minutes." I order softly, seeing him nod and start towards the stairs. I turn my attention back to Jon and smile slightly; wanting to have hope because of the new-possible-rescue-plan, but not wanting to be let down if something doesn't go as planned. "That's great, Jon. I'll get Magnus to start on the tracking devise as soon as he is awake. Where are you right now though?" I ask, completely curious about how he is being 'contained'. He cracks his neck, like the gentleman that he is, and sighs deeply._

"_They immediately threw me on a jet. A mother-fucking jet! Anyway, they did that and now I'm in some sort of storage closet on an island." He informs me, causing me to furrow my brows at him._

"_An island? Like in the Caribbean?" I ask confusedly. He shakes his head and bites his lip._

"_Nah, more like 'I'm still I Europe'. I think that it's over by Italy; the flight here was only a couple of hours, not even long enough to be in the Caribbean." He says casually, making me nod slowly in realization._

"_Well, at least we'll know if the tracking devices work. You're over on an Italian island. Great." I say with mock-enthusiasm, causing him to chuckle. _

"_Yeah, great. I should probably go before they come back." He says reluctantly, clearly not wanting to stop talking to my. I nod slowly and smile weakly at him._

"_Stay safe." I command, completely serious. He half-grins at me._

"_Aren't I always?" he teases lightly, and with a wink the hologram disappears. I am left with a response on the tip of my tongue and slightly wet eyes. I faintly hear footsteps coming down the stairs and blink rapidly, before standing up from the couch and making my way towards the kitchen._

_(End of Flashback)_

Now, we are all gathered around the large kitchen table, eating pizza from an all-hours pizzeria that is about 15 minutes away from the lighthouse. Izzy is still glaring at the two of us, simply because we woke her up, and has been complaining sleepily for about an hour. Everyone else seems to get the fact that we can find where Jon is, but she seems to be half asleep still and won't accept the fact that she doesn't get to sleep anymore. I am brought out of my thoughts by Magnus standing up abruptly.

"Aha! Gotcha!" he exclaims, turning his laptop around towards the rest of the group. he has been working on the tracking devise for about 30 minutes, so I let out a huge relieved breath that he finally was able to make it work. "Jon is located on the island of Sardinia. More specifically, he is in the storage closet of the Hotel Angebote, located in none other than Cagliari, Italy. Or Sardinia." He explains proudly. I smile hugely and jump up from my seat and throw my arms around his shoulders.

"Thank you, Magnus." I exclaim, before pulling back and sitting down again. He smirks brilliantly down at me and winks, right as the doorbell sounds through the old lighthouse. I, along with the rest of the group, furrow my eyebrows in confusion. I look around the room, only to have my eyes land on a very smug looking Izzy. I groan quietly and take a menacing step towards said girl.

"Who's here?" I ask; my voice dangerously low. Her eyes widen slightly, causing her to spring up from her chair and start towards the front door.

"Oh, nothing. I just ordered some regular breakfast food. Not pizza, more like pancakes and bacon. Y'know, the type that healthy people eat." She says in a sing-song voice, before opening the door to reveal a man holding two large paper bags. She hands the man some money, takes the bags from him, and then comes back into the kitchen. She dumps her prize down onto the table, before she starts going through the bags hastily. After about a minute of the entire group watching her warily, she squeals and brings out a large cup of coffee. "Mmmm." She mumbles, while taking a dramatically large sip of the heavenly caffeine. She looks up slightly and notices our stares, causing her to roll her eyes and push the ag towards us. "Dig in. I know that you guys are still hungry. The coffee's good." She teases, before taking her seat again and sipping her coffee contently.

I take my seat next to Jace and watch as large plastic boxes get passed around the table. I see Styrofoam cups being passed out as well, but my attention is soon drawn away from everyone else as a box is set down in front of me. I carefully open it, to reveal pancakes and bacon. I look up incredulously at Izzy, who has now gotten her own box and is stuffing her face.

"You weren't kidding." I state with a smile, causing her to wink at me and smile cheekily.

"I don't mess around when it comes to food." she says seriously, not a trace of humor in her voice or facial expression. I nod slightly, before starting on my own meal. I see Alec nod vigorously and swallow out of my peripheral, before he starts to speak.

"She speaks the truth. One time, she tried to bite off our Mom's finger when she tried to steal Izzy's fries. It was truly horrifying." He says, proving the truth behind her words. We all laugh and continue to eat, all thinking about the same thing. _Rescuing Jon._

**Time Jump**

I lean my head against Jace's shoulder and sigh. He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me closer to him, before laying his head on top of mine and closing his eyes. We're presently in the back of a taxi, heading into the small town that's about 15 minutes away from here to get food for the rest of our 'stay'. Magnus promised me that he would contact Headquarters while we are gone, so I guess that's one less thing that I have to worry about. Earlier, we talked about staying here for about a week; just to make sure of our rescue mission. I am supposed to 'call' Jon later today when Jace and I get back from the grocery store, but I'm still completely confused. _How did my father manage to get ahold of futuristic rings?! _The answer to that is still unknown.

I close my eyes and snuggle into Jace's side. _I really should've gotten some sleep last night; staying up for more than a day doesn't roll with me bro'. _I feel the taxi move underneath of us and allow that to distract me from sleeping. I can tell that Jace and I are in the same boat; both exhausted and wanting to face-plat into a bed immediately. _You don't always get what you want, Princess, _the annoying voice in the back of my mind nags. _Shut the fuck up, _I reply. _Oh, no. I'm having full conversations with myself again._ I roll my eyes internally at myself, but externally I just keep my eyes closed.

About five minutes later, the taxi pulls to a stop and Jace and I pile out. I look around and notice that we're in a very small town. Standing in front of us proudly, is a small grocery store. Large blue letters that light up are placed at the front of the store, old brick makes up the structure, and few cars drive in and out of the parking lot. The wind blows all around us, creating my hair to blow in my face and irritate me, so I quickly braid my hair and start towards the store. Jace grabs my hand and laces our fingers together, while walking beside me.

When we enter the store, we head straight for the milk isle. Jace and I each grab shopping carts and race each other to the back of the store. Of course, he beats me, but I get him back when his wheels lock up from his weight. _Oh, the perks of being the size of a 10-year-old. _We quickly grab about four cartons of milk; _we're living with five teenage boys, _three large things of eggs, about six cans of whipped-cream, and then we start off towards different isles. Before we get to the next one though, Jace turns towards me.

"We should have a race. You go down this half of the store," he points to the right. "and gather as much stuff as you can within 10 minutes, while I go down this half of the store," he points to the left. "and do the same. Then we'll meet back up at the front in 10 minutes to let the cashier debate the winner. Deal?" he holds his hand out for me to shake, his face taking on a mock-serious expression. I nod and smile slyly up at him. I take his hand and firmly shake it.

"You're on. Prepare to get your ass kicked." I say teasingly. H grins and shakes his head.

"In your dreams, Rossa. By the way though, it would be my 'fine ass kicked'. Not any other way." He declares cockily. I roll my eyes and turn towards my side of the store. Jace does the same, before counting down. "3, 2, 1, GO!" he exclaims, causing me to run for dear life while he sprints towards his side of the store.

The first isle that I got to is the snack isle. I run down it really fast and throw everything that I can reach into the cart. Oreo's, Cheetos, Pringles, etc. I sprint down the aisle, getting several nasty looks from a group of old ladies that are gathered around the Miracle Whip. I send a mocking smile and wink their way, before I turn a sharp corner and push my cart into the next aisle. As I am turning though, I see Jace on the other side of the store going into another aisle, so I pick up the pace. I stick out my hand when I am close enough to the food and swipe tons of bags of chips into my cart. I probably got about 30 bags, but we'll eat it.

I repeat this in every isle, until my cart is completely full of course, and then I run up to the front. I see Jace running with a full cart towards the same cashier, who, might I add, looks like she's going to piss herself if we actually come to her check-out, and I run even harder towards the poor cashier. Her eyes widen sporadically when she sees the amount of food that is in my cart, but I swear that she starts drooling when Jace manages to arrive. I put my hands on my knees and take a deep breath to try to ease my conscience of being out of shape. _Damn girl, exercise. _I glance up at Jace, to see that he is also panting. He takes one final breath and straightens up to his full height.

"Y-you cheated." He manages to gasp out in between breaths. I smirk, stand up, and shake my head at him.

"Nope. I won; fair and square." I say, not even trying to act mature. _Acting your age is for pussies. I'm a wo-man. _Jace shakes his head and turns towards the baffled cashier, plastering a charming smile onto his face.

"Hi. Can you please identify who won?" he leans across the small plastic counter where you're supposed to set your groceries. "Me?" he points to himself and winks flirtatiously at the poor girl. "Or her?" he motions towards me, but never breaks eye contact with the cashier. She literally looks like she's going to submit to his charms for a minute, before she turns towards me and winks.

"That sexy piece of scarlet over there." She says, flashing me a devilish smile that practically screams '_play along'._ I wink at her and grin back, stepping up towards her and pushing Jace backwards.

"Thanks. That means so much. You free Saturday night?" I ask, slyly watching Jace's reaction out of the corner of my eye. His facial expression is beyond satisfying; wide eyes and mouth slightly ajar in disbelief. I look back towards the cashier, to see that she is about to lose her cool. I bite my lip, but when she bursts out laughing, I can't help but join her. We get a long laugh, but eventually stop when Jace takes an air of indifference. I sigh and wipe my eyes, before turning back towards the cashier, who has started ringing up our items.

"I'm Clary. Thanks for helping me knock his ego down a notch." I say with a smile and hold out my hand to her. She grins back at me and takes my hand in hers.

"Jessie. And no problem. It's the code; hoes before bros." she states casually, before going back to ringing up our items.

Soon after, Jace and I are dragging around thirty bags towards the bus stop. The bus is already there so we just get on, and take about three extra seats for our overdone grocery load, and then we are on our way back to the lighthouse.

**Time Jump**

When we enter the house, it's quiet. _Too quiet, _thinks my inner detective. Jace and I walk into the kitchen and dump the bags of food down onto the table, before heading into the living room to find everyone. They are all splayed out over the couches and are watching movies. I walk over to Magnus and sit down so that I am at eye level with him.

"Where's my ring? I think that I'll contact Jon again." I whisper to him quietly, as to not disrupt the movie. Magnus hands me my ring, and then I take it into the kitchen so that I can concentrate. I try to think of what I did to 'summon' Jon last time, but I never get a chance because he appears as soon as I slide the ring on. I smile timidly at him earning a bright smile in return.

"Hey, Jon." I say warily, still unsure if this is actually possible. He chuckles and nods his head towards me.

"Clare, did you find out where I am yet?" he asks curiously. I nod and smile a little wider.

"Yeah. Magnus said that you're in the storage closet of some hotel in Cagliari, Sardinia. We're going to come get you in about a week, if that's okay. We just need Clave&Co and Hodge's men to calm down. Is that okay?" I ask hesitantly, afraid of the answer. He nods and smiles at me reassuringly.

"Of course it is, Clare. They're not hurting me, you know. I just keep pretending that I can't understand their languages and staring blankly at the wall. I'm fine." He says soothingly. I suck in a relieved breath and smile at him. _Jon has never lied to me, so why would he start now? _

"Okay, as long as you're not getting harmed." I relent. He nods and looks as if he's about to say something, but a faint knock sounds in the background of the audio. His eyes widen and he looks at me quickly.

"I got to go, Clare. They're coming." He whispers reluctantly. I sigh and nod.

"Okay. Be safe. We'll come for you in a week." I say quietly. He smiles and nods, before his hologram disappears. I take off the ring and walk back into the living room. I spot Jace sitting on an almost empty love-seat, so I go join him over there.

When I sit down, he wraps an arm around my shoulders and brings me into his side. He kisses the top of my head, while I lean against his chest and hold up the ring.

"Jon's fine." I mumble miserably. He squeezes me tighter and takes the ring out of my hand.

"This looks like it's too big for you." He whispers, trying and succeeding in changing the subject. I nod and sigh tiredly.

"I used to wear it on a chain, but I don't know where it is." I say quietly. He sits up a little and I feel his finger on my neck. Suddenly, my Herondale locket comes off and Jace catches it before it can fall. I see him string my Morgenstern ring onto it, before re-clasping it onto my neck again.

"There. Now you have it everywhere you go." He whispers lovingly into my ear, while pulling me back against his chest again. I lean up and kiss his lips lightly.

"I love you, Giallo." I murmur against his lips. I feel him smile and he kisses me softly.

"I love you too, Rossa. Now, turn around and watch the movie." He whispers to me. I chuckle slightly, before turning around and settling down to watch the movie. _Maybe everything will be alright…_

**There's another chapter. Enjoy. :)**

**Cassandra Clare owns all… Except for the plot and my ideas. :)**

**Thanks for all of the positive feedback. :D**

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	25. breaking down

_Clary POV_

I take a breath and lift my hand up to my necklace; the one that holds the Herondale locket and my Morgenstern ring. I unclasp the chain and slip the ring off into my palm, before re-clasping the chain back onto my neck and sliding the ring onto my finger. I close my eyes and focus on connecting to Jon.

We are all gathered in the kitchen, planning on rescuing Jon. Magnus asked me to contact Jon so that we can make sure of his location again, so I am doing exactly that. It has been four days since I have last contacted him, so that is exactly what I'm doing. Magnus sent the SD-card to Headquarters yesterday, so at least we don't have to worry about that anymore. Headquarters said that Jon was our next mission, because once we get back to New York, they are going to charge Hodge with all of the crimes that were recorded onto the hard-drive that we retrieved about a month back. Apparently, they already have him half-way convicted; they just need one last push to put him away for good. _Take that, bitch._

I glance towards the small calendar that Izzy hung up on the fridge two days ago and internally groan. _August 27. Holy hell, we've been at this mission for almost two months! _I am brought out of my haze, by my ring projecting Jon's face into mid-air. I smile at him tentatively, but frown when I catch the solemn look that seems to be plastered onto his face.

"Jon? Are you okay?" I ask warily. He grimaces and nods slightly, while trying to muster up a convincing smile. Sadly for him though, I see completely through his façade. "Jon?" I ask again, starting to worry. He sighs and gives up his fetal attempts at a smile.

"Yeah, Clare. I'm fine." He mumbles, sounding exhausted. _Thanks, bro. That really relieved my concerns._

"No. You aren't. What happened?" I ask quietly, trying to keep the fear out of my voice. _Be strong for Jon. _He slips me a half-grin, before sighing again.

"These bastards sure know how to wear you down, I'll tell ya'." He says tiredly. I try not to show any signs of worry, because I know that Jon loathes me worrying over him, but I know that he notices by the slight eye roll that he sends my way.

"What did they do." I demand softly, trying not to stress-out my brother anymore that he already is. He closes his eyes and groans softly over the audio.

"I back-talked some shithead, and I'm almost positive that he dislocated my shoulder." He murmurs sheepishly. I feel the tell-tale signs of rage course through my blood at the thought of anyone hurting Jon and can feel my features fixing themselves into those of hatred.

"I'm gonna kill a bitch." I growl to him, unconsciously causing the whole group to turn their attention towards me. Jon chuckles halfheartedly and nods.

"Yeah, I'll help you when I get out of this hellhole. By the way, when are you guys going to come save my ass?" he asks, gaining some of his old joking personality back. I smile slightly, before an arm is draped around my shoulders, effectively taking my attention away from Jon. I look behind me and find that Magnus is hanging off of me. _Kind of like a sloth._ He grins, like his usually sparkly self, at Jon and waves jokingly.

"Hello, you look strangely familiar. Do I know you from anywhere, because I could swear that our little Hot-Cheeto here has a brother that looks exactly like you." He says lightly, causing me to look at him incredulously.

"_Hot-Cheeto?_ What the fuck?" I demand, fighting back the smile that is threatening to break through my lips. Magnus just shrugs and smiles innocently.

"I figured that it fit your personality best." He picks up a strand of my hair and curls it around his finger. "The red is almost identical. And let's face it; you sure know how to _burn_ a hole into someone's ego. Suspiciously like how a hot-cheeto burns one's tongue." He states factually, causing the whole room, and Jon, to burst out laughing at his logic. _Where does this guy get this stuff?_

"Thanks, I guess." I mumble quietly after we have all calmed down. Magnus just smirks at me, before turning back to Jon.

"Okay, so we are planning on coming for you in about two days; maybe three. It really all depends on how quickly we can make it to the Maine Institute. We'll have to take their jet, considering that you're all the way in Italy." He explains, suddenly all business. Jon frowns in confusion for a moment, before looking sharply at Magnus.

"Shit! I knew that I forgot to explain something." He mumbles to himself, causing all of us to look at him in confusion. "The guards moved me last night. Threw me onto a huge-ass jet and shipped my ass over to the U.S. I don't actually know which state I'm in, but it has a lot of mountains. Maybe Colorado or some shit like that." He quickly explains. I furrow my brows and look towards Magnus, only to see that he looks immensely relieved.

"Great! Now we can come get you tonight." He exclaims, before looking down at his phone. "Okay it's around 2:30pm, so we should be able to track you and take the jet to wherever you are before 9:00. We don't even have to be careful and quiet this time. Starkweather is going to be locked away for a long time, so if we disturb some of his guards' bases, it most likely won't matter to anyone. Well, anyone important anyway." He says brightly, before going back over to the table and typing something into his laptop. I turn my attention back to Jon and smile softly at him.

"We'll get you out. Hopefully tonight." I promise him, causing him to smile genuinely for the first time since his face has been projected today.

"Wonderful. I really need someone to pop my damn shoulder back into place, because I can't make myself do it. It hurts like a mother-fucking bitch." He mumbles quietly, his face showing signs of relief and discretely shown pain. I sigh slightly and sit down at an abandoned chair.

"I'll make those ass-wipes pay." I whisper angrily, causing him to chuckle.

"Of course you will. That's why I love you, little sis'. You always know how to make me feel better." He says back to me, causing my heart to ache for him. I muster up the courage to smile back though and nod.

"Love you too. I miss you." I mumble breathlessly, trying desperately to keep the tears at bay. After all, the entire group is sitting not even five feet away from me. Jon's eyes get sad and he takes in a deep breath, before speaking.

"I miss you too." He pauses, causing my heart to drop to my stomach when I hear the sound of a door opening. His eyes go wide and he frantically looks back at me. "They're coming. I have to go. Bye." He whispers reluctantly. I nod slightly and swallow against the tight feeling that has gathered in my throat.

"Bye, Jon." I whisper back, before his face disappears and I am left with an empty feeling in my stomach.

I clear my throat and take a deep breath, but I can feel the emotions coming and nothing is going to be able to stop them. I hastily stand up from my chair, ignoring the worried looks and concerned gazes sent my way, and run towards the stairs. I quickly make my way up the large spiral, and soon I am stomping up the small staircase that leads to the loft.

I walk over to the small space where Jon and I placed old mattresses to use for beds and sit down. I bring my knees up to my chest and bury my face into my arms. I take in a ragged breath, before letting the tears fall. I feel like I am mourning over someone who isn't even dead, but the hallow feeling that has settled into my heart tells me that it's a different story. _I'm either just being idiotically emotional or I have detachment issues._ _I'll go with the latter._ I close my eyes and let my mind wander off into my memories.

_Jon and I playing with Simon, Jon and I celebrating our birthdays, Jon and I going over to Grandma Seraphina's house to bake cookies, Jon and I going to Grandma Seraphina's funeral, Jon and I sneaking into our parent's secret library to steal books, Jon and I going on treasure hunts down by the tide pool, Jon and I taking karate classes in the Pre-Agency program, Jon and I graduating the Agency program, Jon and I going to our parent's funeral, Jon and I living with Robert until Jon turned 17, Jon lying to the government about his age and becoming my legal guardian, etc._

The memories hit me like a freight train, making me gasp for air. I am now crying silently and trying to make myself disappear. I end up laying down on the old mattresses, curled up into a ball and my body racked with sobs. I end up finally calming down enough to think rationally, temporarily anyway.

_Why am I even crying? It's not like Jon died or anything. Man up! You might miss him, but this behavior is a little unacceptable. Stop being a pussy and go back downstairs. They're all probably looking for your weak ass. Get up bitch!_ I try to convince myself, but I can feel my eyelids getting heavy and soon enough the weight of sleep is pulling me under. Right before I let the dark abyss consume me though, I vaguely hear my name being closed, but I'm too far gone by now. With one final sigh, I relax and try to find some peace. _At least for a little while…_

**Time Jump**

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing that I know, is that I'm being carried by strong arms. I groggily open my eyes, to see Jace's face looking down on me worriedly. I try to get up, but he holds me tighter to him, and that's when I remember that I am being carried. I relax slightly and lay my head into the crook of his neck. I hear him open a door, and then I am being set down gently onto a bed. I sit up slowly and take in my surroundings. _My room. We're in my room._ I feel the bed dip and look over to Jace, who is sitting next to me and watching me with unhidden concern.

"What happened?" I ask confusedly, my voice coming out thick from the earlier tears that I shed. He slowly shakes his head and blows out a breath.

"I don't actually know. One minute you were talking to Jon, and the next you were booking it up the stairs. We literally looked for you everywhere, but nobody knew about the loft. We all thought that it was some sort of closet, because you said that it wasn't a bedroom. We were all so worried." He finishes; his voice no louder than a whisper. I frown and look down at my lap. _I never wanted them to worry. I was just upset and needed some time alone. _

"I just miss Jon and got upset over nothing. I'm fine." I mumble quietly, avoiding eye contact and playing with my fingers. I her him sigh and the next thing that I know, his arms are around me and are pulling me tightly to him.

"You just scared me. I thought that you left or something. Nobody could find you, but after about an hour I ended up going up into the loft. They're all probably looking for you still." He says softly into my ear. I sniff a little and wrap my arms around his waist.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you guys. I just needed to be alone for a while." I whisper into his t-shirt. He kisses the top of my head and starts drawing patterns onto my back.

"It's okay. We should probably get downstairs though. You've been gone for a little over an hour and a half. They're all probably frantic." He declares while standing up, bringing me up with him. I nod and stifle a yawn. He starts towards the door, my hand clasped tightly in his, and then we are descending the large spiral-staircase and walking into the kitchen. Everyone is gathered around the table again, but they don't seem to notice me and Jace yet.

"-so that means that we can leave in about two hours. Jon is located in Olathe, Colorado. He's been locked up in some sort of office building. It won't be that hard to find; Olathe is one of the smallest towns in Colorado. We should just be able to go in, get Jon, and get out. Starkweather's guards aren't going to make some captive the main priority, when Hodge is presently in Court. According to Headquarters, he's basically going to be convicted either way; even if we do get Jon and go back to New York. He's going down and is going to try to take everyone that he can with him. We should probably go straight to New York after we retrieve Jon, just in case Starkweather has other plans." Magnus explains, completely oblivious of Jace and I still. Jace walks quickly to his side and sits down into a spare chair, taking him by surprise.

"So, we should go get ready shouldn't we? I mean, we still have to drive to the Maine Institute." Jace says. Magnus nods slightly and types something into his laptop.

"Yes, but one of their cars will come pick us up. We have to go all of the way back into Augusta, so we'll have to bring all of our stuff with us. We most likely won't be coming back here after we get Jon; we'll go straight to the New York Institute on the jet that we're going to take to Olathe." He says tiredly. No one has noticed me yet, so I decide to make my presence known.

"Um, when are we leaving?" I ask quietly, causing every single head, save Jace, to snap over to me.

"Clary! Where were you?!" Izzy exclaims, jumping up from her chair and running over to capture me into a giant hug. This display of affection takes me by surprise, so I stumble a bit before regaining my balance and standing there awkwardly while Izzy squeezes me to death. I finally am able to untangle her from my slight form and I look around at all of the curious faces.

"I was in the loft." I state plainly, looking to Jace for help. He seems to sense my desperation, because he gets up from his chair, grabs my hand, and pulls me down onto his lap.

"Leave her alone guys. We have more important things to attend to right now." He declares lightly, but his tone shows a hint of warning in it. They all nod reluctantly and sit back down. Magnus clears his throat, before speaking.

"We need to leave in around two hours, that's when the car from the Institute is going to be here, so we need to have all of our luggage out front and ready to load into the limo when it gets here." He explains. Jordan raises an eyebrow and smirks.

"We get to ride in _another_ limo?" he asks incredulously. Magnus just nods and motions towards the stairs.

"You should all go gather your belongings. You need to be dressed in your gear when the limo arrives and have all of your shit out front. Now go." He commands teasingly, adding a sly wink at me before disappearing up the stairs himself.

Everybody follow him closely behind, except for me and Jace. We amble slowly up the stairs; not talking but not in an awkward silence. When we reach the hallway that divides up the rooms, he grabs my hand and pulls me to his chest. Taken by surprise, I fall onto him and he has to catch me to keep me upright. I look up into his eyes and am surprised at how brightly they are glowing. The sight takes my breath away, so I can't seem to make myself talk. Before I get a chance to though, his mouth collides with mine. I wrap my arms around his neck and he winds his around my waist. We press closely to each other for only god knows how long, before we finally break apart; gasping for air. I look up at his face and quirk an eyebrow at him.

"What was that for?" I gasp out curiously, causing a child-like grin to take over his features.

"Can I not just kiss my beautiful girlfriend?" he says lightly, pressing his forehead into mine. I slightly shake my head against his and let out a breathy chuckle.

"Not that I'm complaining, but that was really sudden." I state, still trying to catch my breath. His grin widens slightly and he looks deep into my eyes.

"Did you not like it?" he inquires teasingly. I breathe out a silent giggle and lean up to kiss his nose.

"Maybe." I say playfully, before leaning out of his grasp. His eyes sparkle mischievously and he reaches out to grab me again, but I dance away further. "Go pack. We have to leave soon." I say mock-sternly, I even go as far as pointing a finger at him, before walking towards my room. I hear him chuckle quietly and hear his retreating footsteps towards his room.

"You sound like my mother." He mumbles softly, but I still hear him. I turn towards him and cock an eyebrow.

"So, you just go around and randomly make-out with your mother?" I ask innocently, causing him to full out laugh.

"Go pack, Rossa." He says half-heartedly, before closing his door and leaving me to do the same.

**Time Jump**

Exactly two hours later, a large black limo pulls up in front of the lighthouse. Magnus calls everyone outside, where all of our luggage is already, and then we are all being loaded onto the limo along with our stuff. The ride to the Augusta Institute is about 45 minutes, so we all settle down for the ride.

Soon enough, we are at the Augusta Institute and we are lead to the jet by another agent. We all pile onto the large tin-can and take our seats for the long flight to Olathe. _Colorado here we come…_

**So, yeah. There's another chapter. Enjoy. Cassandra Clare owns all; except for the plot and my ideas.**

**Thanks for all of the positive feedback :)**

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	26. getting back belongings

_Clary POV_

_Mountains_. That's all that I can see in every direction that I look. It certainly is a change from Maine or New York. It's beautiful, but completely claustrophobic at the same time. The jet landed in an empty field of dirt. _Literally. _The entire field is made of dirt; no corn, no crop, and no grass.

We're presently walking off of the jet, to head towards the guard compound that Jon is being kept in. we are already geared up, so all that we have to do is walk through the front doors, find Jon, and then walk out. Of course, we will be causing as much havoc as possible, but that will be the fun part.

I look up from taking in my surroundings, to see that a limo has pulled up in front of us. We all pile in and sit for the drive to the compound. I sit down next to Jace and lean my head against his shoulder. He wraps his arm around my shoulders and kisses the top of my head.

"Are you ready to get this mission over with, or is it just me?" he mumbles quietly into my hair. I nod slightly and snuggle deeper into his side.

"Absolutely." I mutter back, sighing through my words. I feel him chuckle and squeeze me tighter to him.

"We'll be back in New York soon enough." He says quietly into my ear. I close my eyes with a small smile on my lips and wait for the ride to the compound to get over with.

According to Magnus, the compound is a large office building. It shouldn't be that hard to spot, seeing as the population of Olathe is around 2,000. The buildings are mostly antique, so the large _Modern-looking_ building that sits on the outskirts of town is a dead giveaway. I open my eyes again to take in scenery. We drive through the remotely busy streets, or as busy as a small town like this is, and the limo drives onto a thoroughly deserted road. The dirt and dust creates a cloud behind the car and billows up into the air as soon as we move on. I see a large building in the distance and know immediately that we're at the compound. The limo pulls up in front of the entrance and stops. We all pile out of the limo and huddle around into a large group. Magnus looks us all in the eyes and smiles mischievously.

"Okay, we're going in there, grabbing Jon's lazy ass, setting off my special smoke-bombs, and then we're going back to the car. Any questions?" he states brightly, sounding extremely excited to be destructive. Everyone is quiet for a moment, before Izzy speaks up.

"What smoke bombs?" she asks curiously. Magnus chuckles evilly and pulls out a small leather bag.

"These are my altered version of the everyday smoke-bomb." He starts, only to get interrupted by Jordan.

"I don't think that most citizens have smoke-bombs every day." He mumbles loud enough for all of us to hear. We all make noises of agreement, but Magnus just continues as if nothing ever happened.

"Anyway, I made them better. More," he pauses, as if searching for the right word. "_extravagant._" He finally finishes, sending a secretive wink towards Alec. He flushes bright red and looks down at his shoes. _Poor guy. _Magnus suddenly straightens up and starts towards the doors, leaving the rest of us to follow in his wake. As we're walking, Jace catches up to my side and leans towards me.

"How much do you wanna bet that the 'Extravagance' is glitter?" he whispers into my ear, causing y to stifle a giggle into my hand.

"That's a bet that I wouldn't win, because it's basically common knowledge." I state quietly, making chuckle slightly and force a smile off of his face when we enter the building.

We waltz right into the lobby and walk towards the elevators. A lady that sits at the front desk starts calling at us, but Magnus pulls out one of his bombs and throws it onto the ground. Glitter and smoke explode and fogs up the air so that you can't five feet in front of you. We quickly file pile into the elevator and Magnus pushes the button that says 'Basement'.

Soon we are walking out of the elevator; guns ready and aimed. We quickly and quietly make our way towards the storage closet that Jon is supposedly being kept in; completely on high-alert. When we get there, Magnus places a small square device right next to the door handle, and then the next thing that I know, is that the door is being thrown open. I quickly rush into the small closet-like space and immediately see Jon.

He looks horrible. He's sitting huddled against the far corner of the closet and in groaning quietly. His eyes are closed tightly together and his teeth are clenched painfully. His right hand is holding his left shoulder and his hand is visibly shaking. A large bruise covers his left cheekbone and his scalp is coated in dry blood. I hastily make my way over to him and lower myself to my knees before him. I place my hand on his right cheek gently and his eyes open slightly. He releases a shaky breath of relief and tries, but fails, to smile at me.

"Hey. Can we leave now?" he mumbles, sounding physically and emotionally drained. I manage to smile a small smile at him, but it quickly disappears when he suddenly gasps in pain.

"What? What is it?" I ask worriedly. He bares his teeth and clenches his jaw.

"My fucking shoulder." He gasps out. I look at his shoulder in concern and gently pry his hand off of it. I push his t-shirt up and over it, to reveal a black and blue mess. I make sure not to grimace for Jon's sake and call over Jace and Magnus. They gaze down at him in concern, before looking towards me.

"You guys need to pop his shoulder back into place. I'm not strong enough to do that." I whisper quietly up to them, as to not alert Jon of his oncoming pain. I see understanding cross their features and Magnus leans down to grab his left hand. Jon's eyes suddenly open and they're wide with pain.

"Make it stop." He moans desperately, causing moisture to gather in my eyes at the sight of my brother writhing in agony.

I nod frantically at Magnus and Jace grabs Jon's right hand for support. Magnus starts to lift his arm up and pull slowly and I see Jace wince slightly at the tightness of Jon's grip. Magnus continues lifting and pulling on Jon's arm, until I hear an unmistakable 'pop' sounding through the small room. Jon bites his lip to keep in his scream, but a small whimper makes it through the barrier. He relaxes significantly though, when Magnus lets go of his arm. He sighs and leans against the wall, before speaking.

"Thanks. That fucking piece of shit wouldn't let me do a fucking thing about it. I swear to fucking god, I'll go find that fucker and kill his fucking ass." He rants angrily, slowly making his way into a standing position. Magnus snickers quietly, causing all of us to look over at him.

"That was a lot of 'fuck's." he states, thoroughly amused. Jace snorts childishly and grins.

"That's what she said." He coughs out quietly under his breath. I roll my eyes at their immaturity and turn towards Jon.

"Are you going to be okay until we get back to the jet?" I ask worriedly. He brushes off my concern and nods.

"Yeah. Let's just get out of this hellhole." He states, already making his way towards the door. I sigh and follow him, not even looking back towards the others.

Soon, we are all in the elevator again and are making our way back up to the lobby. When the doors open, we walk straight into the sparkly fog. It is starting to dissipate, so Magnus throws down another bomb before we walk through the front doors. _We probably look like one of those really awesome action movies._ We have the whole explosion, made of glitter, in the background and we just undermined the bad guys. _Have a bro-fist._ We quickly get into the limo and then we are on our way back to the jet.

**Time Jump**

When we get to the jet, we quickly shuffle onto it. Headquarters is expecting us to be in New York within the next ten hours, so we need to get a move on. The flight will only take about 4-6 hours, so we'll still have time to go to our houses and relax, before going down to Headquarters and dealing with the Starkweather case. I rest my head back against my seat and let my mind wander.

_We've been at this mission for about two months. Hodge will get convicted as soon as we return to New York. He'll be charged with several deaths, including Mom and Dad, and he will be locked up for the rest of his pathetic life. _That last thought is enough to bring a mile to my face; earning me some peculiar looks from my friends. I sigh slightly, before facing them.

"Yes?" I ask innocently. They furrow their brows at me, all except for Jon, who is sleeping in the back of the jet, and look at me n concern. Jace must've been in the bathroom, because he suddenly sits down next to me and takes my hand.

"Hi." He whispers with a small, tired smile on his face. I kiss his cheek softly and lean my head against his shoulder.

"Hey." I mumble quietly, before turning back to the group. "So? What are all of those weird looks about?" I ask curiously. They all shrug nonchalantly, before turning back to their seats; that is, all except for Magnus. He eyes me warily, before chuckling to himself. I raise an eyebrow at him in question and he smiles at me brightly.

"I just thought that you should know that Starkweather is being contained presently." He states, officially perking my interest. "Apparently, he tried to flee the country, again might I add, so Headquarters had to arrest him early. They're in court right this very minute. The judge basically already claimed him guilty, but the charges are still being processed. The rich jackass tried to bribe the judge, so he has more charges to be added to the list. He's most likely going to be staying in a prison for the rest of his days." He states, sounding extremely happy. I smile widely at him and nod.

"Awesome. Maybe now that son of a bitch will tread lightly when dealing with agents." I murmur under my breath, before turning back towards my window. Jace wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me to him.

"Are you okay?" he asks softly, kissing the top of my head and allowing me to lean into his side. I turn my head towards him and smile tiredly.

"Ecstatic." I declare quietly, causing him to chuckle and kiss my nose. We settle into a comfortable silence for a moment, before Jace decides to break it.

"We should do something when we get back." He blurts out randomly. I look up at him through my eyelashes curiously.

"Like what?" I ask. He grins lovingly down at me and kisses my cheek slowly.

"Like a date." He states, his voice muffled against my skin. I pause to mock-think, before smiling and nodding slightly, not wanting to put anymore distance between our faces than there already is. I can feel his soft lips travel down my neck and curving upwards into a devilish smirk against my collarbone, where he places an open mouthed kiss. I bite my lip to contain my gasp, because after all, there are people not even five feet away from us.

"Have we ever been on a real date?" I ask breathlessly. His lips pause on their downward path, before resuming.

"Nope, not unless you count going to Central Park at 10:00 at night and then going to a pet-store. Which, might I add, sold blood-thirsty beasts with feathers." He whispers hotly against my neck, his lips making their way back up. "And Oli." He adds as an afterthought. I nod slightly and bring his face up to mine.

"Okay. We should go on a date." I mumble distractedly, looking longingly down at his lips. He notices and grins, moving his face so that his lips are hovering closely over mine.

"Your wish is my command." He says smugly, enjoying torturing me with his lips. My eyes flicker up to his eyes, before speaking.

"Can I have another wish?" I ask, slightly desperate. He nods slightly, his forehead brushing against mine. "Kiss me." I whisper quietly, running my lips lightly over his. His smirk instantly disappears and his eyes darken.

"Your wish is my command." He whispers back, crashing his lips to mine.

**Time Jump**

The jet pulls to a stop after landing onto the large runway that is behind the New York Institute. We all grab our belongings, and then we are descending the long staircase that leads towards the ground. Our group makes its way into the Institute and through the foyer, to the parking-lot. We say brief goodbyes to each other, before heading towards our separate homes.

When I get to my room, I immediately get into bed. I snuggle down under the sheets, after changing into some sweats of course, and close my heavy eyes. _Home sweet home…_

**Hi. Sorry for the late update. I've been really busy with school and everything that's been happening in my life. I'm so sorry for the shortness of this chapter. I literally sat down and avoided doing geometry to write this chapter. The next one will be longer; don't worry. I just needed a small break for a while. Sorry, again. *smiles guiltily* **

**And yes, I did use a Pewdiepie reference. :}**

**Cassandra Clare owns all; except for the plot and my ideas. :D**

**Thank you for reviewing and following my story, you awesome people. ;)**

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	27. Endings

_Clary POV_

"The verdict of Hodge Starkweather, has been hereby declared: Guilty." The loud voice of the judge calls out, resounding throughout the fairly large room. Silence is all that I can hear for a minute, before cries of outrage and cries of joy ring in my ears. I look to my left and smile widely at Jace, who is copying my motions. He chuckles and stands up, bringing me with him. His arms wind themselves around my waist and then the next thing that I know, I am being swung around in a circle. A giggle escapes my mouth and I wrap my arms around his neck for balance.

"We did it, Rossa. We actually succeeded on the mission!" he exclaims, completely overjoyed. My feet plant themselves back onto the ground, but before I can reply, Jace crashes his lips onto mine. I kiss him back eagerly, lightly tugging on his hair and pressing our bodies closer.

When we pull apart, we immediately look over to where Hodge is. He is yelling at his lawyer and practically burning him with his eyes. I let go of Jace and face Hodge fully, as to hear the rest of his conversation.

"I paid you so that we would _win, _dammit. You're pathetic and I will destroy you. No one will hire you after I am through with you. I can't believe that you are that incompetent. I can't go to jail. This is all your fault." He rants, his words getting angrier with each second passing. The lawyer looks utterly terrified, but the guards come to collect Hodge's angry form before he can cause any real harm.

I should probably explain, right? Well, after we all rested for a few hours, we were called down to Headquarters to hand in our files and our paperwork for the mission. After we sorted everything out, Hodge was arrested immediately and taken into custody for further questioning. Turns out, Headquarters already had enough proof to lock him away for good. With the hard-drive, SD-card, evidence of manslaughter, and already being a suspect for illegal substance abuse, Hodge was going to be put away for the rest of his existence. Now though, he is being sentenced to death. _Period._ Apparently, he tried to harm one of his guards on the way to the courthouse, so we had fresh evidence of his violent nature. _Karma's a bitch, ain't she mother-fucker? _

I detach myself from the group, leaving them to watch me curiously, and make my way over to Hodge. His arms are being cuffed behind his back and he is struggling against the three guards that are restraining him. He looks up when I start to near him, only to scowl fiercely at me and snarl.

"You little bitch! You can't do this. I'm innocent!" he barks at me harshly, trying to pull forward and out of his bonds to no avail. I narrow my eyes at him and walk closer, all the while death-glaring at him.

"_Innocent_?! You're innocent? How about you tell that to my parents, you bastard." I spit out, trying to remain my _'cool'._ His struggling halts momentarily and he looks at me in confusion. "Oh wait," I add quickly, cutting off his response. "you can't because they're _dead._" I hiss the last word, trying to get my point across. His eyes widen fractionally, before his face splits into a menacing grin.

"Who're your parents, _little girl?_ I'm afraid that they have slipped my memory." He says tauntingly, trying to get my carefully manufactured façade to crack. It doesn't though; all that I do is step closer and lean up to whisper into his ear.

"You should know; you killed them _right in front of me_." I whisper harshly, feeling satisfied when he flinches slightly. I pull away and smile deadly. "What's that saying? 'What goes around, comes around'?" I say lightly. His eyes spark with sudden understanding, right before his crazed laughter fills the room, which has gone silent in order to listen to our 'little exchange of words'.

"I knew that I should have killed you when I had the chance. Where's that other little brat, the blonde one?" he asks madly, still laughing loudly. All of a sudden, Jon appears by my side and crosses his arms over his chest. Hodge immediately quiets down and looks up at my overly tall brother in slightly concealed fear.

"Right here, you son of a bitch." Jon says calmly, _too calmly._ His entire posture screams nonchalant, but his eyes are burning with hatred for the man that is right in front of him. Hodge swallows visible and takes a small step back towards the guards that are holding him in place. His eyes widen so much that his pupil practically swallows up his iris and his mouth opens and closes repeatedly; showing the tell-tale signs of being dumbstruck. He takes a minute to stare at Jon, before finally gathering his shit together and regaining his composure.

"Aw, the little brats are still together. How sweet." He deadpans, sounding as if he didn't just stare dumbly at Jon in fear five seconds ago. Jon chuckles darkly and grins at him a grin that seals his fate. Hodge's composure comes crumbling down again, this time revealing his nervousness around Jon, but he tries, to no avail might I add, to bring it back up. Jon takes a graceful step towards him and leans down so that they are at eye level. _Damn him and his six-foot-tall stature. _

"Now you listen here, fuck-tard. You're going to die within the next 48 hours. You killed my parents, killed tons of _innocent_ people, and practically _destroyed _me and Clary's childhood. You aren't _innocent._ Not in the slightest. You deserve what's coming to you and this time, this time there's no way of escaping your eternal demise. You will burn in hell and nothing is going to be able to save you. Not your money, not your little _guards,_ not even your apologies can save you from me getting my revenge. You are a pathetic waste of my time and you don't deserve my forgiveness." Jon says calmly, looking Hodge dead in the eye, before starting to pace in front of the small crowd that has gathered around us slowly.

"I remember something that you said to me when I was still a child; '_To love is to destroy, and to be loved is to be the one destroyed'._ I still remember you whispering those words to yourself as you tortured my mother, but I never really understood them. Well, that is until I did a little research. You see, I looked into your past, your 'background' if you will." He says calmly, a dark grin fighting itself onto his face. "Apparently, you had some daddy issues. Decided to end his life too, didn't you _Hodge? _You've already been to a juvenile detention facility; that's why you don't want to go back. Isn't it?" Jon stops pacing and takes a step closer to Hodge, who is breathing heavily and twitching slightly like an eight-year-old with ADHD. "We all know that you're not innocent. Just accept your inevitable fate and it'll be easier on all of us, including you." Jon lowers his voice on the last two words and looks Hodge dead in the eye.

I watch my brother in awe, proud of his strength and courage to face our parent's murderer and hand his ass to him. I sniffle slightly and bring a hand up to my cheek, only to bring it away slightly when I feel moisture on my fingertips. _Of course I choose the one moment when I am in front of a fairly large crowd to be an emotional teenager._ I sigh softly at myself and look back up to Jon and Hodge. All of a sudden, Hodge starts struggling angrily against his bonds.

"I can't die! The formula just got perfected! My life's work!" he yells hysterically, causing the guards to start dragging him through a door that leads to the NYC Penitentiary car that is parked around back. The door make a loud '_thud'_ as it slams shut, leaving the crowd that has gathered in the courtroom to break out into loud discussions while making its way towards the front doors. I turn towards my brother and jump into his arms. He picks me up from the ground and crushes me to him, burying his face into my hair as I lay my forehead into the crook of his neck and breathe in his comforting smell.

"We did it, Clare. He finally is getting what he deserves." He mumbles into my hair, sounding extremely sad and relieved all at the same time. I nod and snuggle deeper into his arms, standing up higher on my toes to get closer to him. His arms squeeze me tighter and I reciprocate the motion fully.

"Do you think that Mom and Dad would be proud of us?" I whisper quietly against his skin. He sighs deeply and kisses the top of my head, before pulling back slightly and holding me at arm's length. He smiles down at me softly and brushes his thumb over my cheek, wiping away a stray tear that I didn't notice escaping.

"Of course they would be proud of us, Clare. In fact, they are proud of us." He says gently, before noticing my confused expression and kissing my forehead lightly. "If I am proud of us, then why the hell would they _not _be proud of us?" he murmurs to me soothingly, while brushing a stray strand of hair behind my ear. I sniff slightly and hug him again, nodding all the while. I hear him chuckle and I sigh in contentment.

After we finally break apart, we slowly amble back to our group. They are all gathering their belongings and slowly making their ways towards the entrance. Jon and I quickly gather our jackets, meet up with the rest of the group, and then we are all descending the long set of steps that lead back to the street. We start walking along the sidewalk and Jace slows his pace so that he is meeting my short strides. I feel his finger intertwine with mine and smile up at him adoringly. He grins down at me mischievously, before swerving into the street and J-walking to the other sidewalk. The rest of the group calls us back, but he starts running in the other direction and dragging me with him.

"Carry on with your day, Lowly Peasants. Me and my Rossa shall be adventuring." He shouts back to the group, while flashing me a devilish smile that usually means trouble. I giggle softly and keep up to his pace.

"Where are we 'adventuring' at?" I ask curiously when we have to stop at a stoplight. He just winks at me and starts walking again when the 'Walk Now' sign flashes.

"We're adventuring. I never did get to take you on that date did I?" he asks playfully. I bite my lip and smile up at him brightly, before continuing to walk along beside him. I squeeze his hand a little tighter and he wraps his arm around my shoulders after detaching our hands. He pulls me securely to his side, and then we continue our walk to our 'adventure'.

While gazing up at Jace, I can't help but feel happy. A soft smile plays on my lips as I realize that this is the first time in years that someone other than Jon or Simon has made me truly happy. I lean into his side and enjoy his warmth as we stroll along the street towards the rest of our lives. Now, before you go thinking, _'That's totally cliché', _let me explain. Jace is my future and I am his, so that is the rest of our lives. When I am old and wrinkly, I am going to look back to this day and remember that. He is, and always will be, my future. He brought me all of these new feelings, and I am hereby making it my mission to bring him new feelings too. Jace is my new mission and we all know how that's going to go. _Most likely down the drain, but I can try. _

I owe him something for all that he has done for me.

He brought me hope.

He made me feel safe.

He loved me; even when I was as closed off as a locked safe.

He showed me how to open up and to trust people again.

He, ultimately and officially, healed my wounds.

**THE END **

**So, yeah. That was probably really disappointing, huh? Well, sorry? I didn't know where to go from the last few chapters, so I have been winging it for about 2 weeks. That is one of the main reasons as to why I have not been updating very consistently. **

**Some of you probably want to kill me right now, and I don't blame you. It seemed like the best way to end the story before I ruined it with my confused reality. Yes, I know that that didn't make any sense, but you can't really blame me. Blame my sleep deprived brain. School has been killing me and I HATE math. I absolutely LOATHE math. **

**Anyway, that was completely off of the subject, but back to the topic. I know that the ending sucks ass. Sorry, again. I will be writing another story soon. I know that I stated a while back that I would be writing a story about a band theme, and I will. It's just not written yet. **

**Cassandra Clare owns all, except for the plot and my ideas. **

**THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR POSITIVE FEEDBACK, you know the drill. :D**

**Review, Follow, & Favorite. **

**I'm kind of sad right now. This is the end. :(**

**LA FIN, FINE, Das Ende, ENDA, ****終わり****, FINIS, SLUTTEN, O FIM, FINAL, конец, EL FIN, SLUTET, **דער סוף

**Bye, until next time.**

**Kodabear18 :D**


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